Incentives Affecting Test-Taking Behavior: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in Swedish Elementary Schools

Sammanfattning: This study examines the effect of non-financial incentives on elementary school student performance. An experiment on sixth graders in Swedish elementary schools was conducted to measure the effect of different incentives applied in the test situation. Our results indicate that extrinsic incentives play an important role in motivating students to exert more effort. We observe significant differences in the means of test scores between the control group and three out of four treatment groups. The treatments evaluated are: (i) students receiving grades A-F, (ii) students receiving grade A if they are among the top 3 performing students, (iii) students receiving a diploma if they obtain a pre-determined score or above, and (iv) students receiving a prize if they are among the top 3 performing students. Treatments (ii)-(iv) represent alternative ways of motivating students. We find that the only treatment with insignificant difference in means is (i) students receiving grades A-F. This assessment method is the one traditionally being applied. Furthermore, we find that motivational strengths of evaluated incentives differ with respect to gender. Our results call into question the current structure of the educational system in motivating students in test situations.