I used to do the IT purchasing for a small business. My experience has been that it really depends on the mouse and surface. Some desks seem to work fine with all mice, others are problematic, and some start off ok but accuracy starts to degrade as the desk gets scratched and dirty (it can be restored by cleaning the desk). Likewise, some mice seem to track on anything, while others will track on nothing but a good pad. One oddity I found was that the Logitech Anywhere Mouse will track on glass, but cardboard gives it problems, and there's a certain type of cloth which it absolutely refuses to track on (the employee was using the fabric as a cover for her desk).
In general I've found mouse pads tend to perform better than most raw desktop surfaces. But even the different mouse pads seem to perform differently too. Avoid black pads - they may look cool but they cause problems due to their low reflectivity (I "fixed" a black foam-type pad by sprinkling baking powder onto it). For the same reason, avoid pads with elaborate patterns with areas of black/dark color. Also, the softer cloth/foam type pads are more comfortable and start off working better, but tend to degrade in performance as dirt and grime fill up their crevices (tossing them in the washing machine revives their performance).
Anyhow, most pads are under $5, so just buy one and see if it seems to help with your desk and your mouse. If you're really don't want to spend the money, just buy one from a place like Staples which will give you a full refund if you don't see any improvement.
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