Events at CERGE-EI

Dr. Marc Piopiunik

CESifo Group Munich, Germany

Authors: Eric. A. Hanushek, Marc Piopiunik, and Simon Wiederhold

Abstract: Student performance differs greatly across countries, but little is known about the role of teacher quality in explaining these differences. New international data from the PIAAC survey of adult skills allow quantifying country-specific teacher skills in numeracy and literacy for the first time. Our main identification strategy exploits exogenous variation in teacher skills attributable to international differences in relative wages of non-teacher public-sector employees. Using student-level performance data, we find that teacher skills are an important determinant of international differences in student performance. Results are supported by fixed-effects estimations that exploit within-country between-subject variation in teacher skills.

Full Text:  “Smart Teachers, Smart Students: Teacher Skills and Student Performance across Developed Countries”