IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ecj/ac2003/151.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Recruiting and Retaining Teachers in the UK: An Analysis of Graduate Occupation Choice from the 1960s to the 1990s

Author

Listed:
  • McIntosh, Steven

    (CEP, London School of Economics)

  • Arnaud Chevalier
  • Peter Dolton

Abstract

This paper examines the market for teachers in the UK from 1960 to 1996 using graduate cohort data from 5 separate cohorts. We find that relative wages in teaching compared to alternative professions have a significant impact on the likelihood of graduates choosing to teach, although the impact depends upon the market situation at the time. The wage effect on the supply of teachers is strongest at times of low relative teachers' wages, or following a period of decline in those wages. It is also strongest for those individuals who have more recently graduated.

Suggested Citation

  • McIntosh, Steven & Arnaud Chevalier & Peter Dolton, 2003. "Recruiting and Retaining Teachers in the UK: An Analysis of Graduate Occupation Choice from the 1960s to the 1990s," Royal Economic Society Annual Conference 2003 151, Royal Economic Society.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecj:ac2003:151
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://repec.org/res2003/McIntosh.pdf
    File Function: full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Theobald, Neil D. & Gritz, R. Mark, 1996. "The effects of school district spending priorities on the exit paths of beginning teachers leaving the district," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 11-22, February.
    2. Paul Frijters & Michael A. Shields & Stephen Wheatley Price, 2004. "To Teach or not to Teach? Panel Data Evidence on the Quitting Decision," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 916, The University of Melbourne.
    3. Theobald, Neil D., 1990. "An examination of the influence of personal, professional, and school district characteristics on public school teacher retention," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 241-250, September.
    4. Charles F. Manski, 1987. "Academic Ability, Earnings, and the Decision to Become a Teacher: Evidence from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972," NBER Chapters, in: Public Sector Payrolls, pages 291-316, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Eric A. Hanushek & John F. Kain & Steven G. Rivkin, 1999. "Do Higher Salaries Buy Better Teachers?," NBER Working Papers 7082, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Mont, Daniel & Rees, Daniel I, 1996. "The Influence of Classroom Characteristics on High School Teacher Turnover," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 34(1), pages 152-167, January.
    7. Stinebrickner, Todd R, 2001. "A Dynamic Model of Teacher Labor Supply," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(1), pages 196-230, January.
    8. Stinebrickner, Todd R., 1998. "An Empirical Investigation of Teacher Attrition," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 127-136, April.
    9. Zabalza,Antoni & Turnbull,Philip & Williams,Gareth, 2010. "The Economics of Teacher Supply," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521133920, October.
    10. Flyer, Fredrick & Rosen, Sherwin, 1997. "The New Economics of Teachers and Education," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(1), pages 104-139, January.
    11. Dolton, Peter J & Mavromaras, Kostas G, 1994. "Intergenerational Occupational Choice Comparisons: The Case of Teachers in the UK," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 104(425), pages 841-863, July.
    12. Dale Ballou & Michael Podgursky, 1995. "Recruiting Smarter Teachers," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 30(2), pages 326-338.
    13. Dolton, Peter J, 1990. "The Economics of UK Teacher Supply: The Graduate's Decision," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 100(400), pages 91-104, Supplemen.
    14. Dolton, Peter J & van der Klaauw, Wilbert, 1995. "Leaving Teaching in the UK: A Duration Analysis," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 105(429), pages 431-444, March.
    15. Peter Dolton & Wilbert van der Klaauw, 1999. "The Turnover of Teachers: A Competing Risks Explanation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 81(3), pages 543-550, August.
    16. Brewer, Dominic J, 1996. "Career Paths and Quit Decisions: Evidence from Teaching," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(2), pages 313-339, April.
    17. Richard J. Murnane & Randall J. Olsen, 1990. "The Effects of Salaries and Opportunity Costs on Length of Stay in Teaching: Evidence from North Carolina," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 25(1), pages 106-124.
    18. Murnane, Richard J & Olsen, Randall J, 1989. "The Effects of Salaries and Opportunity Costs on Duration in Teaching: Evidence from Michigan," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 71(2), pages 347-352, May.
    19. Colm Harmon & Ian Walker & Niels Westergaard-Nielsen (ed.), 2001. "Education and Earnings in Europe," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2237.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Falch, Torberg & Johansen, Kåre & Strøm, Bjarne, 2009. "Teacher shortages and the business cycle," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(6), pages 648-658, December.
    2. Gibbons, Stephen & Silva, Olmo, 2008. "Urban density and pupil attainment," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 631-650, March.
    3. James Walker & Anna Vignoles & Mark Collins, 2010. "Higher education academic salaries in the UK," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 62(1), pages 12-35, January.
    4. repec:ces:ifodic:v:2:y:2004:i:4:p:14567719 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Varga, Júlia, 2013. "A közalkalmazotti béremelés hatása a tanárok pályaelhagyási döntéseire [The effect of a public-sector pay increase on teachers attrition]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(5), pages 579-600.
    6. Bart H. H. Golsteyn & Stan Vermeulen & Inge Wolf, 2016. "Teacher Literacy and Numeracy Skills: International Evidence from PIAAC and ALL," De Economist, Springer, vol. 164(4), pages 365-389, December.
    7. Varga, Júlia, 2007. "Kiből lesz ma tanár?. A tanári pálya választásának empirikus elemzése [Who becomes a teacher today?. An empirical analysis of choosing the teaching profession]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(7), pages 609-627.
    8. Fullard, Joshua, 2021. "Relative wages and pupil performance, evidence from TIMSS," ISER Working Paper Series 2021-07, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    9. Geraldo Andrade Da Silva Filho & Cristine Campos De Xavier Pinto & Marcel De Toledo Vieira, 2016. "Does Money Move Teachers?," Anais do XLII Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 42nd Brazilian Economics Meeting] 240, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    10. Juan Cándido Gómez Gallego & María Concepción Pérez Cárceles & Laura Nieto Torrejón (ed.), 2017. "Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación," E-books Investigaciones de Economía de la Educación, Asociación de Economía de la Educación, edition 1, volume 12, number 12, April.
    11. Barigozzi, Francesca & Parasnis, Jaai & Tani, Massimiliano, 2022. "Gender, Motivation, and Self-Selection into Teaching," IZA Discussion Papers 15532, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Ellen Greaves & Luke Sibieta, 2014. "Estimating the effect of teacher pay on pupil attainment using boundary discontinuities," IFS Working Papers W14/03, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    13. Arnaud Chevalier & Peter Dolton, 2004. "The Labour Market for Teachers," Working Papers 200411, School of Economics, University College Dublin.
    14. Hof, Stefanie & Strupler Leiser, Mirjam & Wolter, Stefan C., 2011. "Career Changers in Teaching Jobs: A Case Study Based on the Swiss Vocational Education System," IZA Discussion Papers 5806, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Silva, Olmo, 2009. "Some Remarks on the Effectiveness of Primary Education Interventions," IZA Policy Papers 5, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Steingrimsdottir, Herdis, 2020. "The decreased popularity of the teaching sector in the 1970s," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    17. Sam Sims & Asma Benhenda, 2022. "The effect of financial incentives on the retention of shortage-subject teachers: evidence from England," CEPEO Working Paper Series 22-04, UCL Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, revised Apr 2022.
    18. Fullard, Joshua, 2021. "Bad economy, good teachers? The countercyclicality of enrolment Into Initial Teacher Training Programmes in the UK," ISER Working Paper Series 2021-06, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    19. Boyle Glenn, 2008. "Pay Peanuts and Get Monkeys? Evidence from Academia," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 8(1), pages 1-26, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Frijters, Paul & Shields, Michael A. & Wheatley Price, Stephen, 2004. "To Teach or Not to Teach? Panel Data Evidence on the Quitting Decision," IZA Discussion Papers 1164, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Elizabeth Webster & Mark Wooden & Gary Marks, 2004. "Reforming the Labour Market for Australian Teachers," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2004n28, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    3. Donald Boyd & Hamilton Lankford & Susanna Loeb & James Wyckoff, 2013. "Analyzing the Determinants of the Matching of Public School Teachers to Jobs: Disentangling the Preferences of Teachers and Employers," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 31(1), pages 83-117.
    4. Donald Boyd & Hamilton Lankford & Susanna Loeb & James Wyckoff, 2003. "Analyzing the Determinants of the Matching Public School Teachers to Jobs: Estimating Compensating Differentials in Imperfect Labor Markets," NBER Working Papers 9878, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Stefan C. Wolter & Stefan Denzler, 2004. "Wage elasticity of the teacher supply in Switzerland," Brussels Economic Review, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles, vol. 47(3-4), pages 387-408.
    6. Torberg Falch & Bjarne Strøm, 2003. "Teacher Turnover and Non-Pecuniary Factors," Working Paper Series 3604, Department of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
    7. Vera, Celia Patricia, 2013. "Career Mobility Patterns of Public School Teachers," MPRA Paper 49340, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Ganimian, Alejandro & Alfonso, Mariana & Santiago, Ana, 2013. "Calling Their Bluff: Expressed and Revealed Preferences of Top College Graduates Entering Teaching in Argentina," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 4633, Inter-American Development Bank.
    9. Vera, Celia Patricia, 2018. "A structural approach to assessing retention policies in public schools," MPRA Paper 90657, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Jan Ondrich & Emily Pas & John Yinger, 2008. "The Determinants of Teacher Attrition in Upstate New York," Public Finance Review, , vol. 36(1), pages 112-144, January.
    11. Alejandro Ganimian & Mariana Alfonso & Ana Santiago, 2013. "Calling Their Bluff: Expressed and Revealed Preferences of Top College Graduates Entering Teaching in Argentina," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 82302, Inter-American Development Bank.
    12. Varga, Júlia, 2013. "A közalkalmazotti béremelés hatása a tanárok pályaelhagyási döntéseire [The effect of a public-sector pay increase on teachers attrition]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(5), pages 579-600.
    13. Jonah E. Rockoff, 2008. "Does Mentoring Reduce Turnover and Improve Skills of New Employees? Evidence from Teachers in New York City," NBER Working Papers 13868, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Pavel V. Derkachev, 2015. "Where is a Teacher Happy in Russia? Indicators of Teachers’ Salaries," HSE Working papers WP BRP 28/PA/2015, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    15. Imazeki, Jennifer, 2005. "Teacher salaries and teacher attrition," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 431-449, August.
    16. Patrick Walsh, 2014. "When Unified Teacher Pay Scales Meet Differential Alternative Returns," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 9(3), pages 304-333, July.
    17. Stefan Denzler & Stefan C. Wolter, 2009. "Laufbahnentscheide im Lehrberuf aus bildungsoekonomischer Sicht," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0041, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    18. Hege Marie Gjefsen & Trude Gunnes, 2015. "School accountability Incentives or sorting?," Discussion Papers 815, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    19. Vera Celia P., 2019. "A Structural Approach to Assessing Retention Policies in Public Schools," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 19(3), pages 1-26, July.
    20. Li Feng, 2009. "Opportunity Wages, Classroom Characteristics, and Teacher Mobility," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 75(4), pages 1165-1190, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    labour supply; teachers; relative wages;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor
    • J4 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ecj:ac2003:151. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Christopher F. Baum (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/resssea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.