TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Howard, Greg
AU  - Weinstein, Russell
        TI  - Does Training Teachers Locally Affect Teacher Shortages? Evidence from Regional Public Universities
        PY  - 2026/Apr/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 18572
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp18572
        AB  - We study whether training teachers locally increases nearby teacher supply. We use the historical assignment of normal schools and insane asylums to identify the effect of university proximity. Normal schools, built to train teachers, became regional universities while asylums mostly continue as small psychiatric facilities. Our evidence suggests greater teacher supply in normal school counties:  lower teacher wages and more teachers per student. Asylum counties have more teachers with emergency credentials and fewer who majored in education - suggesting they mitigate lower supply by hiring in different pools. Normal school counties have higher high school test scores and graduation rates.
        KW  - teacher shortages
KW  - regional universities
KW  - teacher training
KW  - geographic frictions in the labor market
        ER  -