TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Ajzenman, Nicolas
AU  - Bertoni, Eleonora
AU  - Elacqua, Gregory
AU  - Marotta, Luana
AU  - Vargas, Carolina Méndez
        TI  - Altruism or Money? Reducing Teacher Sorting Using Behavioral Strategies in Peru
        PY  - 2021/Feb/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 14111
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp14111
        AB  - Inequality in access to high-quality teachers is an important driver of student socioeconomic achievement gaps. We experimentally evaluate a novel nation-wide low-cost government program aimed at reducing teacher sorting. Specifically, we tested two behavioral strategies designed to motivate teachers to apply to job vacancies in disadvantaged schools. These strategies consisted of an "Altruistic Identity" treatment arm, which primed teachers' altruistic identity by making it more salient, and an "Extrinsic Incentives" arm, which simplified the information and increased the salience of an existing government monetary-incentive scheme rewarding teachers who work in underprivileged institutions. 
We show that both strategies are successful in triggering teacher candidates to apply to such vacancies, as well as make them more likely to be assigned to a final in-person evaluation in a disadvantaged school. The effect among high-performing teachers is larger, especially in the "Altruistic" arm. Our results imply that low-cost behavioral strategies can enhance the supply and quality of professionals willing to teach in high-need areas.
        KW  - prosocial behavior
KW  - altruism
KW  - priming
KW  - monetary incentives
KW  - identity
KW  - teacher sorting
        ER  -