Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/113780 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 5454
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
How do alternative job opportunities affect teacher quality? We provide the first causal evidence on this question by exploiting business cycle conditions at career start as a source of exogenous variation in the outside options of potential teachers. Unlike prior research, we directly assess teacher quality with value-added measures of impacts on student test scores, using administrative data on 33,000 teachers in Florida public schools. Consistent with a Roy model of occupational choice, teachers entering the profession during recessions are significantly more effective in raising student test scores. Results are supported by placebo tests and not driven by differential attrition.
Subjects: 
teacher value-added
talent allocation
business cycle
Roy model
JEL: 
E32
H75
I20
J24
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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