Match Quality, Worker Productivity, and Worker Mobility: Direct Evidence from Teachers

TLDR

The study investigates how matching teachers to schools affects student achievement and provides the first output‑based estimates of worker‑firm match quality. The authors estimate match quality directly from teacher output data rather than from wages or employment duration. Results show that moving to a new school boosts teacher effectiveness, match quality accounts for a quarter of teacher quality and two‑thirds of its explanatory power, is negatively linked to switching, rises with experience, and motivates workers beyond pay.

Abstract

Abstract I investigate the importance of the match between teachers and schools for student achievement. I show that teacher effectiveness increases after a move to a different school and estimate teacher-school match effects. Match quality explains away a quarter of and has two-thirds the explanatory power of teacher quality. Match quality is negatively correlated with school switching, is unrelated to exit, and increases with experience. This paper provides the first estimates of worker-firm match quality using output data, as opposed to inferring productivity from wages or employment durations. The results suggest that workers seek high-quality matches for reasons other than higher pay.