biography

Clare Leaver is Vice Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, and a Fellow of University College.

Much of Clare’s research focuses on careers and incentives within the public sector. Her work spans different sectors and regions, from utility regulation in the United States, the judicial system in England and Wales, to education systems in sub-Saharan Africa and Brazil. In recent projects, she has studied management challenges facing education bureaucracies, including how to select and reward teachers, and how to obtain and use performance information in schools. She is currently working with the Government of Ghana on a study of delivery approaches in education districts and schools, and with the Government of Rwanda on reforms to teacher performance pay. Her research has appeared in leading economics journals, including the American Economic Review, Journal of Public Economics, and Journal of Law, Economics and Organisation.

Clare teaches on the Economics course for Master of Public Policy students at the Blavatnik School. She is also Academic Deputy Director of the What Works Hub for Global Education (WWHGE), a new FCDO-funded initiative based at the School that will focus on how to support implementation of education policies and programmes sustainably at scale. She previously co-directed the DeliverEd Initiative, and was Research Coordinator for the RISE Programme. Prior to joining the Blavatnik School she was Associate Professor of Economics in the Department of Economics at Oxford and fellow of The Queen’s College

Publications

Selected publications

Recruitment, effort, and retention effects of performance contracts for civil servants: Evidence from Rwandan primary schools, with Owen Ozier, Peter Serneels, and Andrew Zeitlin. American Economic Review, Vol. 111, Issue 7, July 2021, pp: 2213-2246.

 

Pay for locally monitored performance? A welfare analysis for Ugandan primary schools, with Jacobus Cilliers, Ibrahim Kasirye, Pieter Serneels, and Andrew Zeitlin. Journal of Public Economics, Vol. 167, November 2018, pp: 69-90.

 

Bias in open peer review: Evidence from the English Court of Appeal, with Jordi Blanes i Vidal. Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Vol. 31, Issue 3, August 2015, pp: 431-471. 

 

Social interactions and the content of legal opinions, with Jordi Blanes i Vidal. Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Vol 29, Issue 1, February 2013, pp: 78-114.

 

Are tenured judges insulated from political pressure? With Jordi Blanes I Vidal. Journal of Public Economics, Vol. 95, Issue 7-8, August 2011, pp: 570-586.

 

Bureaucratic minimal squawk behavior: Theory and evidence from regulatory agencies. American Economic Review, Vol 99, Issue 3, June 2009, pp: 572-606. 

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