Pay up, pay out and pay off 2

The implication of your editorial is that good people are motivated only by money, and that there is a linear relationship between how much money you need to pay someone and how good they are (Leader, 19 March). I doubt it: beyond a certain level, extra salary does not affect one's lifestyle and is merely a status symbol. I think we would see better management if we offered vice-chancellorships to people who wanted to do the job because they felt passionately about maintaining academic centres of excellence. Of course, they should be remunerated so they can live comfortably, but that is perfectly possible on, say, double a professorial salary.

Dorothy Bishop, University of Oxford.