IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ifs/ifsewp/14-03.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Estimating the effect of teacher pay on pupil attainment using boundary discontinuities

Author

Listed:
  • Ellen Greaves

    (Institute for Fiscal Studies and University of Bristol)

  • Luke Sibieta

    (Institute for Fiscal Studies and Institute for Fiscal Studies)

Abstract

This paper provides causal estimates of the effect of teacher pay on pupil attainment using a sharp geographical discontinuity in teacher salaries. We compare schools in close proximity to a pay zone boundary to estimate the effect of teacher salary differentials on pupil attainment. We find that these differences in salary scales do translate into differences into actual teacher pay levels. However, we find little evidence that higher teacher salary scales increases pupil attainment in national assessments at age 11, and are able to rule out quantitatively small effects of 0.07 and 0.02 standard deviations in English and maths, respectively. These results imply that variations in teacher pay of the magnitude we observe (around 5%) are unlikely to be effective for attracting and retaining higher quality teachers.

Suggested Citation

  • Ellen Greaves & Luke Sibieta, 2014. "Estimating the effect of teacher pay on pupil attainment using boundary discontinuities," IFS Working Papers W14/03, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:ifs:ifsewp:14/03
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.ifs.org.uk/wps/wp1403.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter Dolton & Oscar D. Marcenaro-Gutierrez, 2011. "If you pay peanuts do you get monkeys? A cross-country analysis of teacher pay and pupil performance [Discrimination in the market for public school teachers]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 26(65), pages 5-55.
    2. Timothy Besley & Maitreesh Ghatak, 2005. "Competition and Incentives with Motivated Agents," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(3), pages 616-636, June.
    3. Richard Blundell & Monica Costa Dias, 2009. "Alternative Approaches to Evaluation in Empirical Microeconomics," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 44(3).
    4. Ernesto Dal Bó & Frederico Finan & Martín A. Rossi, 2013. "Strengthening State Capabilities: The Role of Financial Incentives in the Call to Public Service," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 128(3), pages 1169-1218.
    5. Marigee P. Bacolod, 2007. "Do Alternative Opportunities Matter? The Role of Female Labor Markets in the Decline of Teacher Quality," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 89(4), pages 737-751, November.
    6. Delfgaauw, Josse & Dur, Robert, 2007. "Signaling and screening of workers' motivation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 62(4), pages 605-624, April.
    7. Atkinson, Adele & Burgess, Simon & Croxson, Bronwyn & Gregg, Paul & Propper, Carol & Slater, Helen & Wilson, Deborah, 2009. "Evaluating the impact of performance-related pay for teachers in England," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 251-261, June.
    8. Daniel Aaronson & Lisa Barrow & William Sander, 2007. "Teachers and Student Achievement in the Chicago Public High Schools," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 25(1), pages 95-135.
    9. ARNAUD CHEVALIER & PETER DOLTON & STEVEN McINTOSH, 2007. "Recruiting and Retaining Teachers in the UK: An Analysis of Graduate Occupation Choice from the 1960s to the 1990s," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 74(293), pages 69-96, February.
    10. Randall Eberts & Kevin Hollenbeck & Joe Stone, 2002. "Teacher Performance Incentives and Student Outcomes," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 37(4), pages 913-927.
    11. Dolton, Peter J & van der Klaauw, Wilbert, 1995. "Leaving Teaching in the UK: A Duration Analysis," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 105(429), pages 431-444, March.
    12. Bonesronning, Hans & Falch, Torberg & Strom, Bjarne, 2005. "Teacher sorting, teacher quality, and student composition," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 457-483, February.
    13. Peter Dolton & Wilbert van der Klaauw, 1999. "The Turnover of Teachers: A Competing Risks Explanation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 81(3), pages 543-550, August.
    14. Steve Bradley & Colin Green & John Mangan, 2012. "The Effect of Relative Wages and External Shocks on Public Sector Turnover," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 88(281), pages 243-261, June.
    15. Randall W. Eberts & Kevin Hollenbeck & Joe A. Stone, 2002. "Teacher Performance Incentives, collective Bargaining, and Student Outcomes," Book chapters authored by Upjohn Institute researchers, in: Paula B. Voos (ed.),Industrial Relations Research Association (IRRA) Series, Proceedings of the 54th Annual Meeting, pages 180-192, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sander Gerritsen & Sonny Kuijpers & Marc van der Steeg, 2015. "The effects of higher teacher pay on teacher retention," CPB Discussion Paper 316.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    2. repec:cep:spccrp:21 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Sander Gerritsen & Sonny Kuijpers & Marc van der Steeg, 2015. "The effects of higher teacher pay on teacher retention," CPB Discussion Paper 316, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    4. Blanden, Jo & Greaves, Ellen & Gregg, Paul & Macmillan, Lindsey & Sibieta, Luke, 2015. "Understanding the improved performance of disadvantaged pupils in London," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121536, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Barigozzi, Francesca & Parasnis, Jaai & Tani, Massimiliano, 2022. "Gender, Motivation, and Self-Selection into Teaching," IZA Discussion Papers 15532, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Berlinski, Samuel & Ramos, Alejandra, 2020. "Teacher mobility and merit pay: Evidence from a voluntary public award program," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    3. Karbownik, Krzysztof, 2014. "Job mobility among high-skilled and low-skilled teachers," Working Paper Series 2014:14, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    4. Dora Gicheva, 2022. "Altruism and Burnout: Long Hours in the Teaching Profession," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 75(2), pages 427-457, March.
    5. Arnaud Chevalier & Peter Dolton, 2004. "The Labour Market for Teachers," Working Papers 200411, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    6. Barigozzi, Francesca & Raggi, Davide, 2013. "The Lemons Problem in a Labor Market with Intrinsic Motivation," AICCON Working Papers 123-2013, Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit.
    7. Andrew Agopsowicz & Chris Robinson & Ralph Stinebrickner & Todd Stinebrickner, 2020. "Careers and Mismatch for College Graduates: College and Noncollege Jobs," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 55(4), pages 1194-1221.
    8. Jose Maria Cabrera & Dinand Webbink, 2020. "Do Higher Salaries Yield Better Teachers and Better Student Outcomes?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 55(4), pages 1222-1257.
    9. Falch, Torberg & Johansen, Kåre & Strøm, Bjarne, 2009. "Teacher shortages and the business cycle," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(6), pages 648-658, December.
    10. Dinand Webbink & José María Cabrera, 2016. "Do higher salaries yield better teachers and better student outcomes?," Documentos de Trabajo/Working Papers 1604, Facultad de Ciencias Empresariales y Economia. Universidad de Montevideo..
    11. F. Barigozzi & N. Burani & D. Raggi, 2013. "The Lemons Problem in a Labor Market with Intrinsic Motivation. When Higher Salaries Pay Worse Workers," Working Papers wp883, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    12. Geraldo Andrade Da Silva Filho & Cristine Campos De Xavier Pinto & Marcel De Toledo Vieira, 2016. "Does Money Move Teachers?," Anais do XLII Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 42nd Brazilian Economics Meeting] 240, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    13. Gilpin, Gregory A., 2011. "Reevaluating the effect of non-teaching wages on teacher attrition," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 598-616, August.
    14. Alessandro Fedele & Paolo Naticchioni, 2016. "Moonlighting Politicians: Motivation Matters!," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 17(2), pages 127-156, May.
    15. Barigozzi, Francesca & Burani, Nadia & Raggi, Davide, 2018. "Productivity crowding-out in labor markets with motivated workers," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 199-218.
    16. Hanushek, Eric A., 2011. "The economic value of higher teacher quality," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 466-479, June.
    17. Kampkötter, Patrick & Petters, Lea M. & Sliwka, Dirk, 2021. "Employee identification and wages – on the economics of “Affective Commitment”," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 608-626.
    18. Karbownik, Krzysztof, 2014. "The determinants of teacher mobility in Sweden," Working Paper Series 2014:13, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    19. A. Fedele & P. Giannoccolo, 2013. "Moneycracy," Working Papers wp893, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    20. Martins, Pedro S., 2009. "Individual Teacher Incentives, Student Achievement and Grade Inflation," IZA Discussion Papers 4051, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ifs:ifsewp:14/03. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Emma Hyman (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ifsssuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.