Examining The Link Between Teacher Wages And Student Outcomes: The Importance Of Alternative Labor Market Opportunities And Non-Pecuniary Variation

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Examining The Link Between Teacher Wages And Student Outcomes: The Importance Of Alternative Labor Market Opportunities And Non-Pecuniary Variation

Author Info

Susanna Loeb
Marianne E. Page

Abstract

Researchers using cross-sectional data have failed to produce systematic evidence that teacher salaries affect student outcomes. These studies generally do not account for non-pecuniary job attributes and alternative wage opportunities, which affect the opportunity cost of choosing to teach. When we employ the methodology used in previous studies, we replicate their results. However, once we adjust for labor market factors, we estimate that raising teacher wages by 10% reduces high school dropout rates by 3% to 4%. Our findings suggest that previous studies have failed to produce robust estimates because they lack adequate controls for non-wage aspects of teaching and market differences in alternative occupational opportunities. © 2000 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technolog

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Publisher Info
Article provided by MIT Press in its journal The Review of Economics and Statistics.

Volume (Year): 82 (2000)
Issue (Month): 3 (August)
Pages: 393-408
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Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:82:y:2000:i:3:p:393-408

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Thomas J. Nechyba, 2006. "Alternative education finance strategies," Regional Economic Development, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, issue Mar, pages 7-27. [Downloadable!]
Marigee Bacolod, 2006. "Do Alternative Opportunities Matter? The Role of Female Labor Markets in the Decline of Teacher Quality," Working Papers 06-22, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau. [Downloadable!]
Michael Podgursky, 2006. "Is Teacher Pay Adequate?," Working Papers 0601, Department of Economics, University of Missouri. [Downloadable!]
Wolter, Stefan C. & Denzler, Stefan, 2003. "Wage Elasticity of the Teacher Supply in Switzerland," IZA Discussion Papers 733, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Stefan C. Wolter & Stefan Denzler, 2004. "Wage Elasticity of the Teacher Supply in Switzerland," Brussels Economic Review/Cahiers Economiques de Bruxelles, Editions du DULBEA, Université libre de Bruxelles, Department of Applied Economics (DULBEA), vol. 47(3-4), pages 387-407.
Geeta Kingdon & Francis Teal, 2004. "Does performance related pay for teachers improve student performance? Some evidence from India," Development and Comp Systems 0409009, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Kingdon, Geeta Gandhi & Teal, Francis, 2007. "Does performance related pay for teachers improve student performance? Some evidence from India," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 473-486, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Elizabeth Webster & Mark Wooden & Gary Marks, 2004. "Reforming the Labour Market for Australian Teachers," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2004n28, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne. [Downloadable!]
Charles Clotfelter & Elizabeth Glennie & Helen Ladd & Jacob Vigdor, 2006. "Would Higher Salaries Keep Teachers in High-Poverty Schools? Evidence from a Policy Intervention in North Carolina," NBER Working Papers 12285, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Other versions:
- Clotfelter, Charles & Glennie, Elizabeth & Ladd, Helen & Vigdor, Jacob, 2008. "Would higher salaries keep teachers in high-poverty schools? Evidence from a policy intervention in North Carolina," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(5-6), pages 1352-1370, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Torberg Falch & Bjarne Strøm, 2003. "Teacher Turnover and Non-Pecuniary Factors," Working Paper Series 3604, Department of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology. [Downloadable!]

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