View in EDS HTML Full Text PDF Full Text

How the political power of teacher unions affects education.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: How the political power of teacher unions affects education.
Authors: Campillo Betancourt, Eduardo1 (AUTHOR), Maeba, Kensuke2 (AUTHOR) kmaeba@compasslexecon.com
Source: Education Economics. Aug2026, Vol. 34 Issue 4, p510-528. 19p.
Subject Terms: *Teachers' unions, *Education policy, *Achievement gains (Education), Political patronage, Pay for performance, Power (Social sciences), Employee promotions
Geographic Terms: Mexico
Abstract: This paper studies the effects of politically powerful teacher unions on public education by focusing on Mexico's largest corporatist teacher union and its use of a performance-pay program as a patronage tool. We find that after the 2006 presidential election, teacher promotions disproportionately increased in municipalities where the union-affiliated candidate received a plurality of votes. This pattern is consistent with the hypothesis that the program's implementation was distorted by the union's strengthened political alliance with the ruling party. We also show that the increased promotions negatively affected student learning outcomes by crowding out teachers' incentives to invest effort in teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Education Economics is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
Full text is not displayed to guests.
FullText Links:
  – Type: pdflink
Text:
  Availability: 1
Header DbId: ehh
DbLabel: Education Research Complete
An: 194999687
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
PreciseRelevancyScore: 0
IllustrationInfo
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: How the political power of teacher unions affects education.
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Campillo+Betancourt%2C+Eduardo%22">Campillo Betancourt, Eduardo</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Maeba%2C+Kensuke%22">Maeba, Kensuke</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> kmaeba@compasslexecon.com</i>
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Education+Economics%22">Education Economics</searchLink>. Aug2026, Vol. 34 Issue 4, p510-528. 19p.
– Name: Subject
  Label: Subject Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teachers'+unions%22">Teachers' unions</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Education+policy%22">Education policy</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Achievement+gains+%28Education%29%22">Achievement gains (Education)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Political+patronage%22">Political patronage</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Pay+for+performance%22">Pay for performance</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Power+%28Social+sciences%29%22">Power (Social sciences)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Employee+promotions%22">Employee promotions</searchLink>
– Name: SubjectGeographic
  Label: Geographic Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mexico%22">Mexico</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: This paper studies the effects of politically powerful teacher unions on public education by focusing on Mexico's largest corporatist teacher union and its use of a performance-pay program as a patronage tool. We find that after the 2006 presidential election, teacher promotions disproportionately increased in municipalities where the union-affiliated candidate received a plurality of votes. This pattern is consistent with the hypothesis that the program's implementation was distorted by the union's strengthened political alliance with the ruling party. We also show that the increased promotions negatively affected student learning outcomes by crowding out teachers' incentives to invest effort in teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Education Economics is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=194999687
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1080/09645292.2025.2544189
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 19
        StartPage: 510
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Teachers' unions
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Education policy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Achievement gains (Education)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Political patronage
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Pay for performance
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Power (Social sciences)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Employee promotions
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Mexico
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: How the political power of teacher unions affects education.
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Campillo Betancourt, Eduardo
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Maeba, Kensuke
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 08
              Text: Aug2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
          Identifiers:
            – Type: issn-print
              Value: 09645292
          Numbering:
            – Type: volume
              Value: 34
            – Type: issue
              Value: 4
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: Education Economics
              Type: main
ResultId 1