What Do Parents Value in Education? An Empirical Investigation of Parents' Revealed Preferences for Teachers

S-Tier
Journal: Quarterly Journal of Economics
Year: 2007
Volume: 122
Issue: 4
Pages: 1603-1637

Authors (2)

Brian A. Jacob (not in RePEc) Lars Lefgren (Brigham Young University)

Score contribution per author:

4.022 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

This paper examines revealed preferences of parents for their children's education, using parent requests for individual elementary school teachers and information on teacher attributes, including principal reports of teacher characteristics that are typically unobservable. On average, parents strongly prefer teachers whom principals describe as good at promoting student satisfaction, though they also value teacher ability to raise academic achievement. These aggregate effects mask striking differences across schools. Families in higher poverty schools strongly value student achievement and appear indifferent to the principal's report of a teacher's ability to promote student satisfaction. The results are reversed for families in wealthier schools.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:oup:qjecon:v:122:y:2007:i:4:p:1603-1637.
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25