Is centralized teacher deployment more equitable? Evidence from rural China

Is centralized teacher deployment more equitable? This paper evaluates the teacher deployment centralization reform on teacher allocation in the context of rural China. Since 2001 the administration of regular teacher deployment has been gradually moved from the township (or local school district) up to the county government. Using the data from an impoverished province, I show that deployment centralization tends to exacerbate existing inequality in the allocation of teachers in favor of communities close to the county seat by exploiting variations in the timing of centralization.

► I study how deployment centralization affects the allocation of teachers in China. ► Variation in the timing is exploited. ► Data from a poor province is used. ► Inequality in the allocation of teachers is found to be exacerbated.