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TEACHER UNIONS AND THE COST OF PUBLIC EDUCATION
Author(s) -
EBERTS RANDALL W.,
STONE JOE A.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
economic inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.823
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1465-7295
pISSN - 0095-2583
DOI - 10.1111/j.1465-7295.1986.tb01838.x
Subject(s) - compensation (psychology) , economics , affect (linguistics) , differential (mechanical device) , public education , production (economics) , labour economics , public economics , demographic economics , economic growth , microeconomics , sociology , psychology , engineering , communication , psychoanalysis , aerospace engineering
Do teacher unions affect the cost of public education? Based upon data from two national surveys and holding measures of educational output and other factors constant, the authors of this paper find that teacher unions raise costs by 7 to 15 percent. The estimated differential is not reduced by treating unionization as endogenous, by distinguishing between large and small districts, or by distinguishing between districts in large and small cities. The union effect on cost works through teacher compensation, production technology, and factor use, and is borne primarily by taxpayers, with little or no effect on average student achievement.