Attraction

Getting talented people to become teachers is essential. The evidence indicates that those considering whether to go into the profession care about what they would earn relative to other occupations (Boyd et al. 2006b; Dolton 1990; Wolter & Denzler 2003) and what the long-term career opportunities are (OECD 2012; Darling-Hammond 2010), and that higher salaries attract more able candidates into teaching (Barber & Mourshed 2007; Figlio 1997; Hanushek, Kain & Rivkin 1999). There is considerable evidence that teachers also care a great deal about their working conditions (Boyd et al. 2005a; Hanushek, Kain & Rivkin 2004a, 2004b; Jackson 2010). And yet, in many countries, teachers are facing a declining social status and worsening working conditions (Elacqua et al. 2018; Evans & Yuan 2017). The observational studies described above are complemented by the causal evidence from Dal Bo et al (2013) in Mexico, which finds that higher wages attract more able applicants as measured by their IQ, personality, and public-sector orientation. Finally, there is also evidence that the status of the profession beyond the financial compensation also matters (Berlinski & Ramos 2018).