In "Performance-Based Pay in the Federal Government"--a paper presented at the February 2008 National Center on Performance Incentives research to policy conference--Steve Nelson discusses the evolution of employee pay systems in the federal government, from the inception of the General Schedule to continuing interest in creating more market-driven pay for performance. Nelson concludes that movement away from the General Schedule is likely in the future, but more political momentum is needed to convince employees and other stakeholders that it is in their interest. [This research brief describes work published by the National Center on Performance Incentives in "Performance-Based Pay in the Federal Government" by Steve Nelson, Working Paper 2008-05.]