Match Effects and the Gains from Alternative Job Assignments: Evidence from a Teacher Labor Market

Mariana Laverde (), Elton Mykerezi (), Aaron Sojourner () and Aradhya Sood ()
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Mariana Laverde: Boston College
Elton Mykerezi: University of Minnesota
Aaron Sojourner: Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
Aradhya Sood: University of Toronto

No 18397, IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER

Abstract: This paper studies the relative importance of teacher-student match effects and general teacher effectiveness in producing student learning, and quantifies gains from alternative teacher assignments. We estimate a framework that separates these components, allowing match quality to vary with observable student characteristics and unobservable teacher-school factors. Using more than a decade of administrative data from a large urban district, we address endogenous sorting with quasi-random assignment variation induced by differences in driving time between teachers and schools. Match effects are similar in magnitude to general effectiveness. Teacher-acceptable reassignments can raise average test scores by about 0.13 standard deviations.

Keywords: teacher effectiveness; teacher–student match effects; assignment and sorting; education production; labor markets in education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 I24 J24 J45 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-lma and nep-uep
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