Corresponding author: Lena Hensvik, Institute for Labour Market Policy Evaluation, Box 513, 75120 Uppsala, Sweden. Email: lena.hensvik@ifau.uu.se
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Competition, Wages and Teacher Sorting: Lessons Learned from a Voucher Reform†
Article first published online: 12 MAR 2012
DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0297.2012.02514.x
© 2012 The Author(s). The Economic Journal © 2012 Royal Economic Society
Additional Information
How to Cite
Hensvik, L. (2012), Competition, Wages and Teacher Sorting: Lessons Learned from a Voucher Reform. The Economic Journal, 122: 799–824. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0297.2012.02514.x
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I thank the editor and two anonymous referees for their constructive suggestions. I am also grateful to Olof Aslund, Erling Barth, David Figlio, Erik Grönqvist, Caroline Hoxby, Francis Kramarz, Mikael Lindahl, Matti Sarvimäki, Peter Nilsson, Oskar Nordström Skans, Jonas Vlachos and audiences at IFAU, VATT, the ‘Labor Development Reading Group’ lunch at Stanford, the 2010 ELE Summer Institute in Reykjavik and the 2010 All California Labor Conference in Santa Barbara for helpful discussions and comments. I am also particularly grateful to Björn Öckert, Olle Folke, Mikael Lindahl and Anders Böhlmark for kindly sharing the data. Part of this work was completed while visiting Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. I thank FAS and the Berch and Borgström foundations for their financial support.
Publication History
- Issue published online: 1 JUN 2012
- Article first published online: 12 MAR 2012
- Accepted manuscript online: 16 JAN 2012 10:14AM EST
- Submitted: 21 October 2010 Accepted: 4 October 2011
This article examines how the entry of private independent high schools in Sweden affects the mobility and wages of teachers in a market with individual wage bargaining. Using matched employer–employee panel data covering all high school teachers over 16 years, I show that the entry of private schools is associated with higher teacher salaries, also for teachers in public schools. The wage returns from competition are highest for teachers entering the profession and for teachers in maths and science. Private school entry also seems to have increased wage dispersion between high- and low-skilled teachers within the same field.