Alternative wages and teacher mobility: A human capital approach

Abstract

This study empirically investigates, via an occupational mobility model, the effect of a wage differential between a teacher's actual or current wage and the wage that could be earned in alternative occupations upon the decision of primary and secondary school teachers to leave the teaching profession. As extensions to previous studies, a different specification of the alternative wage variable is integrated into the mobility model. Additionally, the empirical specification includes an income variable to partially capture family decision-making effects on the mobility decision. © 1990.