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To Teach or not to Teach? Panel Data Evidence on the Quitting Decision

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  • Paul Frijters
  • Michael A. Shields
  • Stephen Wheatley Price

Abstract

The question we address in this paper is which factors influence the quitting decision of public sector teachers in England and Wales, using a nationally representative panel data set over 1997-2003. We document the outcomes of former teachers, fit single and competing-risks duration models and examine the influence of relative pay on retention. Surprisingly, we find that teachers who move to outside employment earn 22% less pay, work longer hours, in largely nonprofessional occupations and mainly stay within the public sector. We estimate that a 10% increase in teachers’ relative pay would reduce annual quitting rates by less than 1%.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:mlb:wpaper:916
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Melanie K. Jones & Richard J. Jones & Paul L. Latreille & Peter J. Sloane, 2009. "Training, Job Satisfaction, and Workplace Performance in Britain: Evidence from WERS 2004," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 23(s1), pages 139-175, March.
    2. Vera, Celia Patricia, 2018. "A structural approach to assessing retention policies in public schools," MPRA Paper 90657, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Paul Frijters & Michael A. Shields & Stephen Wheatley Price, 2007. "Investigating the quitting decision of nurses: panel data evidence from the british national health service," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(1), pages 57-73, January.
    4. Vera, Celia Patricia, 2013. "Career Mobility Patterns of Public School Teachers," MPRA Paper 49340, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    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. ARNAUD CHEVALIER & PETER DOLTON & STEVEN McINTOSH, 2007. "Recruiting and Retaining Teachers in the UK: An Analysis of Graduate Occupation Choice from the 1960s to the 1990s," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 74(293), pages 69-96, February.
    7. 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.
    8. Leigh, Andrew, 2012. "Teacher pay and teacher aptitude," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 41-53.
    9. Kirill Maslinsky & Valeria Ivaniushina, 2016. "To Remain a Teacher? Factors Influencing Attitudes to Leaving the Teaching Profession," Voprosy obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow, National Research University Higher School of Economics, issue 4, pages 8-30.
    10. Kuenga Choden, 2019. "An ordered probit model on quitting decision of secondary public school teachers in Bhutan," Journal of Administrative and Business Studies, Professor Dr. Usman Raja, vol. 5(2), pages 65-78.
    11. 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.
    12. Gjefsen, Hege Marie & Gunnes, Trude, 2016. "The effects of School Accountability on Teacher Mobility and Teacher Sorting," MPRA Paper 69664, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Stefanie Schurer & Jongsay Yong, 2010. "Personality, Well-being and Heterogeneous Valuations of Income and Work," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2010n14, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    14. Hege Marie Gjefsen & Trude Gunnes, 2015. "School accountability Incentives or sorting?," Discussion Papers 815, Statistics Norway, Research Department.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Teachers; Panel Data; Wages; Quitting;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J45 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Public Sector Labor Markets
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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