This paper examines how the quality of a potential teacher's outside option affects who chooses to teach. I use variation in state level unemployment rates as a source of plausibly exogenous variation in the outside option available to first-year teachers in the NCES-SASS. I find that higher...

Search theory suggests that early career job changes on balance lead to better matches that benefit both workers and firms, but this may not hold in teacher labor markets characterized by salary rigidities, barriers to entry, and substantial differences in working conditions that are difficult...

Search theory suggests that early career job changes on balance lead to better matches that benefit both workers and firms, but this may not hold in teacher labor markets characterized by salary rigidities, barriers to entry, and substantial differences in working conditions that are difficult...