Data and code for: Order Effects and Teacher Labor Supply: A Nation-wide RCT in Ecuador

Inequality in access to high-quality teachers is an important driver of student socioeconomic achievement gaps. We conducted an experimental evaluation of a nationwide zero-cost government program in Ecuador, designed to address the issue of teacher sorting, where lower-income students are more likely to attend hard-to-staff schools with less qualified teachers. Our approach was grounded in an insight from behavioral economics known as order effects. In the treatment arm, the teacher job application platform showed hard-to-staff schools first, while in the control group, teaching vacancies were displayed alphabetically. In both arms, hard-to-staff schools were labeled with the same icon. Teachers in the treatment arm were more likely to apply to these hard-to-staff schools, ranking them as their highest priority. Neither inattentive teachers, altruistic teachers, nor less-qualified teachers influenced the results. Instead, factors such as choice overload and fatigue appeared to be influential. Overall, the intervention seemed to reduce the unequal distribution of qualified teachers across schools serving students from different socioeconomic backgrounds. Notably, after three years, treated teachers reported equal satisfaction with their placements, suggesting that the intervention benefited disadvantaged students without reducing teacher welfare