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Weak Markets, Strong Teachers

Author

Listed:
  • Nagler, Markus
  • Piopiunik, Marc
  • West, Martin R.

Abstract

Can policymakers hire more effective teachers by increasing the relative economic benefits of teaching? We investigate this question by exploiting business cycle conditions at career start as a source of exogenous variation in the outside labor market opportunities of potential teachers. Using administrative data on 33,000 teachers in Florida s public schools, we find that teachers who entered the profession during recessions have significantly higher math value-added measures than teachers who entered the profession during non-recessionary periods. We explain these findings with a simple Roy model of occupational choice. Results are not driven by differential attrition or by any single recession.

Suggested Citation

  • Nagler, Markus & Piopiunik, Marc & West, Martin R., 2015. "Weak Markets, Strong Teachers," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 112949, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:vfsc15:112949
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    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. Sean P. Corcoran & William N. Evans & Robert M. Schwab, 2004. "Changing Labor-Market Opportunities for Women and the Quality of Teachers, 1957-2000," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(2), pages 230-235, May.
    3. 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.
    4. Michael Boehm & Martin Watzinger, 2012. "The Allocation of Talent over the Business Cycle and its Effect on Sectoral Productivity," CEP Discussion Papers dp1143, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    5. Falch, Torberg & Johansen, Kåre & Strøm, Bjarne, 2009. "Teacher shortages and the business cycle," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(6), pages 648-658, December.
    6. George J. Borjas, 2002. "The Wage Structure and the Sorting of Workers into the Public Sector," NBER Working Papers 9313, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Chingos, Matthew M. & Peterson, Paul E., 2011. "It's easier to pick a good teacher than to train one: Familiar and new results on the correlates of teacher effectiveness," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 449-465, June.
    8. Matthew M. Chingos & Martin R. West, 2012. "Do More Effective Teachers Earn More Outside the Classroom?," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 7(1), pages 8-43, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Evi Oktavia & Rosmiyati Chodijah Saleh & Yunisvita Yunisvita, 2020. "Vocational Teacher Productivity in Palembang: Education Production Function," Ovidius University Annals, Economic Sciences Series, Ovidius University of Constantza, Faculty of Economic Sciences, vol. 0(2), pages 29-37, December.
    2. Danilo Paula de Souza & Mauro Rodrigues Junior, 2016. "Education quality and non-convergence," Working Papers, Department of Economics 2016_24, University of São Paulo (FEA-USP).
    3. Alena Bičáková & Guido Matias Cortes & Jacopo Mazza, 2021. "Caught in the Cycle: Economic Conditions at Enrolment and Labour Market Outcomes of College Graduates," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 131(638), pages 2383-2412.
    4. Joseph Marchand & Jeremy G. Weber, 2020. "How Local Economic Conditions Affect School Finances, Teacher Quality, and Student Achievement: Evidence from the Texas Shale Boom," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(1), pages 36-63, January.
    5. Lisa Simon, 2018. "Shocking Choice: Trade Shocks, Local Labor Markets and Vocational Occupation Choices," ifo Working Paper Series 281, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    6. Benjamin Master & Min Sun? & Susanna Loeb, 2018. "Teacher Workforce Developments: Recent Changes in Academic Competitiveness and Job Satisfaction of New Teachers," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 13(3), pages 310-332, Summer.
    7. Lisa Simon, 2019. "Microeconometric Analyses on Determinants of Individual Labour Market Outcomes," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 83.
    8. Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes & Delia Furtado, 2019. "Settling for Academia?: H-1B Visas and the Career Choices of International Students in the United States," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 54(2), pages 401-429.
    9. Piróg Danuta & Hibszer Adam, 2022. "Regional and temporal changes in demand for geography teachers in Poland. Results of job advert tracking in the years 2019–2020," Miscellanea Geographica. Regional Studies on Development, Sciendo, vol. 26(4), pages 198-207, October.
    10. Quinby, Laura D. & Wettstein, Gal, 2021. "Do deferred benefit cuts for current employees increase separation?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    11. Laura D. Quinby, 2020. "Do Deferred Retirement Benefits Retain Government Employees?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(2), pages 469-509, March.
    12. Michael Dinerstein & Isaac M. Opper, 2022. "Screening with Multitasking," CESifo Working Paper Series 9869, CESifo.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare

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