Working Paper: NBER ID: w31757
Authors: Sabrin A. Beg; Anne E. Fitzpatrick; Adrienne Lucas
Abstract: To improve public services, public sector managers must encourage reticent civil servants to enact effective reforms. We show through a randomized controlled trial that school principals, i.e., school mangers, can act as leaders to improve Instructional Management (0.3SD) and student learning (0.11SD) with existing systems and personnel. Additional management training improved People Management but not student test scores. Managerial enhancements and student test score gains persisted. Our findings resolve conflicting results regarding the role of management in public sector productivity and demonstrate how public sector managers can signal reform effectiveness through personal commitment, acting as leaders.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: H40; I25; I28; M53; M54; O15; O43
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Management training (M53) | Teacher effort (D29) |
| Teacher effort (D29) | Student learning (A21) |
| Management training (M53) | Student learning (A21) |
| Management training (M53) | Instructional management (A29) |
| Instructional management (A29) | Student learning (A21) |