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Parents' Responses to Teacher Qualifications

Author

Listed:
  • Simon Chang

    (The University of Western Australia)

  • Deborah A. Cobb-Clark

    (The University of Sydney)

  • Nicolás Salamanca

    (Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research,The University of Melbourne ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course Institute of Labor Economics (IZA))

Abstract

We identify the causal effect of teacher qualifications on parents’ investments in their children. Exploiting a unique, high-stakes educational setting in which teachers are randomly assigned to classes, we show that parents react to more qualified teachers by increasing their financial investments in their children. The key mechanism is an increase in parents’ belief that academic achievement is driven by student effort—for which financial investment is instrumental. However, higher teacher qualifications do not improve student test scores. This is likely due to a negative effect of teacher qualifications on students’ belief in the importance of effort for academic achievement. Our findings uncover various family-wide behavioral reactions to teacher qualifications and highlight the intricacies in educational production within households.

Suggested Citation

  • Simon Chang & Deborah A. Cobb-Clark & Nicolás Salamanca, 2020. "Parents' Responses to Teacher Qualifications," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2020n01, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    • Handle: RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2020n01
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Deborah A. Cobb-Clark & Tiffany Ho & Nicolás Salamanca, 2021. "Parental Responses to Children’s Achievement Test Results," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2021n17, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    2. de Gendre, Alexandra & Salamanca, Nicolás, 2020. "On the Mechanisms of Ability Peer Effects," IZA Discussion Papers 13938, IZA Network @ LISER.
    3. Badaracco, Nicolás, 2026. "Time investment responses of parents and students to school inputs," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).

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    JEL classification:

    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality

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