Altruism or Money? Reducing Teacher Sorting Using Behavioral Strategies in Peru

Inequality in access to high-quality teachers is an important driver of socioeconomic student achievement gaps. We experimentally evaluate a novel nationwide low-cost government program that deployed two behavioral strategies to motivate teachers to apply to job vacancies in disadvantaged schools. These strategies consisted of an "altruistic identity" treatment, which primed teachers' altruistic identity by making it more salient, and an "extrinsic incentives" treatment, which simplified the presentation and increased the salience of an existing government monetary incentive scheme that rewards teachers who work in underprivileged institutions. Both strategies successfully encouraged teaching candidates to apply to disadvantaged schools.