Examining the Link between Teacher Wages and Student Outcomes: The Importance of Alternative Labor Market Opportunities and Non-Pecuniary Variation
指出，以往横截面数据研究未能发现教师工资影响学生成绩，是因为未考虑非金钱因素和替代性工资机会。调整劳动力市场因素后，教师工资提高10%可使高中辍学率降低3%至4%。
Researchers using cross-sectional data have failed to produce systematic evidence that teacher salaries affect student outcomes. These studies generally do not account for non-pecuniary job attributes and alternative wage opportunities, which affect the opportunity cost of choosing to teach. When we employ the methodology used in previous studies, we replicate their results. However, once we adjust for labor market factors, we estimate that raising teacher wages by 10% reduces high school dropout rates by 3% to 4%. Our findings suggest that previous studies have failed to produce robust estimates because they lack adequate controls for non-wage aspects of teaching and market differences in alternative occupational opportunities. © 2000 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology