Do higher salaries yield better teachers and better student outcomes?

Cabrera, José María; Webbin, Dinand

Files in this item

Do_higher_salaries_yield_bette ... (1.396Mb )

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12806/1367

Exportar citas

Estadísticas

Author

Cabrera, José María ; Webbin, Dinand

Editor

Universidad de Montevideo, Facultad de Ciencias Empresariales y Economía, Departamento de Economía

Date

2018

Extensión

81 p.

Abstract

We study the effects of a policy aimed at attracting more experienced and better qualified teachers in primary schools in disadvantaged neighborhoods in Uruguay. Teachersin these schoolscould earn higher salaries. Estimates from regression discontinuity models show that the policyincreasedexperience by two to three years. The policy was especially successful in ‘hiringexperiencefrom other schools’, but also increased tenure. However, the effecton student outcomesappears to be small. The distinction between ‘hiring or keeping’teachers seems important for explaining thisresult. Keeping teachers appears to be more beneficial for students than hiring experienced teachers.We also find that the effect of the policy is better for schools that replaced teachers with less than five years of experience.