Pay for performance in public and private schools

Previous research on teacher merit pay has concluded that its failure is du e to the complexity of teachers' jobs and the need for teamwork and coopera tion in schools. This research re-opens the issue by comparing the use of m erit pay in public and private schools. Merit pay is used in a large number of private schools. Awards are not trivial; nor is it the case that merit pay is awarded to nearly everyone. Reasons for the failure of merit pay are not inherent in teaching, but are due to specific circumstances in public education, notably the opposition of teacher unions. [JEL 120] (C) 2001 Els evier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.