The Effectiveness of Incentive Contracts in Russian Academic Sector

Based on the data of the Project “Monitoring of education markets and organizations” (MEMO) and “Monitoring of efficiency of higher education institutions”, the relationship between the structure of incentives and the publication activity of teachers (at the micro level) and universities (at the macro level) is estimated. According to surveys of the leaders of Russian universities conducted in 2009-2015, incentive payments for the main activities in the effective contract are more often used in universities with a special status (NRU/5-100) compared to other universities. The proportion of universities using incentive payments increased in dynamics, especially in remuneration for research activities. The results of an empirical assessment of the relationships between the structure of incentive payments and actual publication activity at the micro and macro levels show that the contracts in universities with special status are more effective. Universities with no status have potential risks of teaching staff orientation only on assessed indicators, the publication practices in “junk” journals, which are not only stimulate the promotion of such universities in the global academic market, but may also lead to negative reputation effects.