Deregulating Teacher Labor Markets

Simon Burgess, Ellen Greaves and Richard Murphy

Economics of Education Review, 2022, vol. 88, issue C

Abstract: This paper examines how the removal of national pay scales, a common feature of public sector labor markets, affects productivity. We exploit a reform that compelled all schools in England to replace pay scales with school-designed performance related pay schemes. Using teacher-level data, we find that in response to the reform, schools in labor markets with better outside options for teachers have relatively higher teacher pay progression, spending on teachers, teacher retention and student performance. These effects are largest for schools with a more disadvantaged demographic. We conclude that centralized pay scales result in a misallocation of resources by preventing such schools from retaining their teachers.

Keywords: Pay Scales; Teachers; Performance Related Pay; Productivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I20 J33 J45 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Deregulating Teacher Labor Markets (2019)
Working Paper: Deregulating Teacher Labor Markets (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:88:y:2022:i:c:s0272775722000309

DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2022.102253

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