Moreira, Diana  and Pérez, Santiago   <br/><br/>
Civil service exams and organizational performance: Evidence from the Pendleton act 

 - American Economic Journal: Applied Economics  
 - 16(3), Jul, 2024: p.250-291 
<br/><br/> We use newly digitized data to study the impacts of a historical reform that mandated exams for some employees in the largest US customs-collection districts. Although the reform improved targeted employees' professional backgrounds and reduced turnover, it did not lead to significant improvements in the cost-effectiveness of customs revenue collection. The incomplete reach of the reform was key for this partial success. First, the reform incentivized hiring in exam-exempted positions, distorting districts' hierarchical structure. Second, since we find suggestive evidence that districts' top managers mattered for performance, not changing their appointment method might have constituted a missed opportunity for improvement.- Reproduced <br/><br/>https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/app.20220284<br/>