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Measuring Quality for Use in Incentive Schemes: The Case of "Shrinkage" Estimators

Author

Abstract
Researchers commonly "shrink" raw quality measures based on statistical criteria. This paper studies when and how this transformation’s statistical properties would confer economic benefits to a utility-maximizing decisionmaker, for many asymmetric information environments. The presence of an econometric endogeneity could cause the data transformation to do either worse or better than the untransformed data. I develop the results for an application measuring teacher quality. I use data from Los Angeles to confirm the presence of the econometric endogeneity and show that the simpler raw measure would outperform the one most commonly used in teacher incentive schemes.

Suggested Citation

  • Nirav Mehta, 2017. "Measuring Quality for Use in Incentive Schemes: The Case of "Shrinkage" Estimators," University of Western Ontario, Centre for Human Capital and Productivity (CHCP) Working Papers 201725, University of Western Ontario, Centre for Human Capital and Productivity (CHCP).
    • Handle: RePEc:uwo:hcuwoc:201725
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    2. Propper, Carol & Kunz, Johannes & Staub, Kevin & Winkelmann, Rainer, 2020. "Assessing the Quality of Public Services: Does Hospital Competition Crowd Out the For-Profit Quality Gap?," CEPR Discussion Papers 15045, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Michael Gilraine & Jiaying Gu & Robert McMillan, 2020. "A New Method for Estimating Teacher Value-Added," NBER Working Papers 27094, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    JEL classification:

    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty

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