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Absence, substitutability and productivity: Evidence from teachers

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  • Benhenda, Asma

Abstract

Teacher absence is a widespread phenomenon, but little is known about its effects on teacher productivity and schools’ strategies to cope with this temporary disruptive event through substitute teachers. Using a unique French administrative dataset matching, for each absence spell, each missing secondary school teacher to her substitute teacher, I find that, on average, teacher absence reduces pupil test scores by around 0.40% of a standard deviation. On average, substitute teachers are unable to mitigate this negative effect. However, there is substantial heterogeneity depending on the type of substitute teacher: certified substitute teachers are able to compensate for up to 25% of this negative impact, while non-certified substitute teachers have no statistically significant effect.

Suggested Citation

  • Benhenda, Asma, 2022. "Absence, substitutability and productivity: Evidence from teachers," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:76:y:2022:i:c:s0927537122000574
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2022.102167
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    Cited by:

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    2. Hilary Mapingulila & Hezron Onyancha & Fortunatus Mbua, 2024. "Contribution of Biometric Fingerprint in Reducing Prevalence of Unauthorized Absenteeism among Employees in Public Organizations in Moshi Municipality," Business Management and Strategy, Macrothink Institute, vol. 15(2), pages 219-242, December.
    3. Niki Glaveli & Panagiotis Manolitzas & Fotios Vouzas & Chris Liassidis, 2023. "Developing a Sustainable Work Environment for Substitute Teachers: A Multi-Criteria Job Satisfaction Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-13, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Absence; Substitutability; Productivity; Teachers;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor
    • M51 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Firm Employment Decisions; Promotions

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