Downloads
wp1403.pdf
PDF | 686.45 KB
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.
Authors
Research Fellow
Luke is a Research Fellow at the IFS and his general research interests include education policy, political economy and poverty and inequality.
Research Fellow University of Bristol
Ellen, who was a Senior Research Economist at IFS and is now a Research Fellow, is a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute.
Working Paper details
- DOI
- 10.1920/wp.ifs.2014.1403
- Publisher
- IFS
Suggested citation
Greaves, E and Sibieta, L. (2014). Estimating the effect of teacher pay on pupil attainment using boundary discontinuities. London: IFS. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/estimating-effect-teacher-pay-pupil-attainment-using-boundary-discontinuities-0 (accessed: 19 April 2024).
More from IFS
Understand this issue
Sure Start achieved its aims, then we threw it away
15 April 2024
The way Chancellors respond to economic news adds to our debt - here's why
1 March 2024
The NHS waiting list: when will it come down?
29 February 2024
Policy analysis
The short- and medium-term impacts of Sure Start on educational outcomes
9 April 2024
Progression of nurses within the NHS
12 April 2024
Regional variation in earnings and the retention of NHS staff in Agenda for Change bands 1 to 4
10 April 2024
Academic research
Labour market inequality and the changing life cycle profile of male and female wages
15 April 2024
Interpreting cohort profiles of lifecycle earnings volatility
15 April 2024