Citation:

Abstract:

We present new evidence on the relationship between employee productivity and job tenure using data from the teacher labor market. Econometric challenges require identifying assumptions to model the within-teacher returns to experience with teacher fixed effects. We describe the bias introduced by violations of two common assumptions, and we propose a third approach with a different and empirically-testable assumption. Consistent with past research, we find that teachers experience rapid productivity growth early in their careers. However, we find suggestive evidence of returns to experience later in the career, indicating that teachers continue to build human capital beyond these first years.