The Effects of Teacher Strike Activity on Student Learning in South African Primary Schools
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP01/2014Publication date: 2014
Author(s):
This paper investigates whether teacher strikes affect student achievement at the primary school level in South Africa. A cross-subject analysis with student fixed effects is used to eliminate sources of endogeneity bias at the school and student level. Results indicate that teacher strike participation negatively affects learning for students in the poorest three quarters of schools in South Africa. A negative effect size as large as ten per cent of a standard deviation is observed. There is also evidence that more marginalised students, both in terms of socio-economic status and academic performance, are affected most negatively by strike action. However, application of a technique by Altonji, Taber and Elder (2005) indicates that it is not possible to rule out that measured strike effects may be driven by omitted variable bias. The student fixed effects strategy fails to adequately control for unobserved teacher characteristics that may influence both a teacher’s decision to strike and student achievement.
JEL Classification:I21, J51, J52, J24
Keywords:teachers, strikes, trade unions, student achievement, South Africa
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Upcoming Seminars
Monday 28 July 202512:00-13:00
Dr Neil Rankin: Ceo Of Predictive Insights & Stellenbosch University
Topic: "TBC"
12:00-13:00
Prof Willem Boshoff
Topic: "Two competing approaches in South African competition policy: merger control and anti-cartel enforcement over the past 30 years"
12:00-13:00
Prof Derek Yu: University Of The Western Cape
Topic: "Examining the teaching, assessment and research activities of the South African Economics Departments"
BER Weekly
6 Jun 2025 SA GDP barely expands in Q1, while BCI and PMI suggest that Q2 remained weakIt was a busy week for local data releases, much of which painted a bleak picture of SA’s economy. Not only was first-quarter GDP growth dismal, but 2024 growth was also revised lower to just 0.5%. , The RMB/BER Business Confidence Index (BCI) showed sentiment remained shaky in the second quarter...
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