Location Effects and the Determination of Beginning Teacher Salaries: Evidence from Ohio

Abstract

This paper provides a new treatment of district location in modeling the determinants of teacher salaries by incorporating the methodology of spatial econometrics. Using a location weighting variable, we examine how starting teacher salaries in one district are influenced by other districts' starting salaries in the region. We find that a $1 increase in average beginning teacher salaries of a district's neighbors generates an own salary increase in average teacher salaries ranging from $0.51 to $0.96. In order to completely account for the spillover effects present, the specification of the location variable must incorporate both the size and distance of neighboring districts.

Spatial recruiting competition in Chinese higher education system

“…Some studies found evidence of positive spillover effects among districts within a given region (Ready and Sandver 1993;Zwerling and Thomason 1995). More recently, spatial econometric models have begun to make inroads into the study of education science and in particular the study of interaction relations between schools (Babcock et al 2005;Wagner and Porter 2000;Greenbaum 2002;Millimet and Rangaprasad 2007b).…”

Teacher Salaries and Teacher Unions: A Spatial Econometric Approach

“…Studies by Wagner and Porter (2000), Greenbaum (2002), Babcock, Engberg and Greenbaum (2005), and Millimet and Rangaprasad (2007) found, using spatial econometric methods, that teacher salaries in a district are also positively influenced by teacher salaries in nearby districts.3 1 use the term "…”

“…As I discuss in more detail in the next section, appropriate spatial methods account for the simultaneity in teacher salaries using instrumental variables. 4 Wagner and Porter (2000) examined school districts in Ohio; Greenbaum (2002) and Babcock et al (2005) examined districts in Pennsylvania; and Millimet and Prangasad (2007) examined districts in Illinois. activity variables, which include union spillover effects, whereas a single-state analysis would not.…”

“…Although I use a national-level dataset, the spatially lagged dependent variable coefficients estimated herein are within the range of intrastate estimates by previous researchers. Wagner and Porter (2000) found a spatial lag coefficient of 0.51 for beginning teacher salaries in Ohio; Greenbaum (2002) reported a spatial lag coefficient of 0.66 for average teacher salaries in Pennsylvania; and Millimet and Prangasad (2007) estimated a spatial lag coefficient of 0.86 for average teacher salaries in Illinois. The spatial error coefficient (Л) is also statistically significant for both experienced and beginning teachers.…”

Teacher Salaries and Teacher Unions: A Spatial Econometric Approach

“…More recent studies by Wagner and Porter (2000), Greenbaum (2002), Babcock, Engberg and Greenbaum (2005), and Millimet and Rangaprasad (2007) find using spatial econometric methods that teacher salaries in a district are also positively influenced by teacher salaries in nearby districts.…”