Abstract
We examine the distribution of income across Swiss primary school teachers at the end of the 19th century. To assess the income differences we use a detailed data set on income of 14000 Swiss primary school teachers in 1881 and 1894/95. In addition, we have annually aggregated test scores from pedagogical examinations at recruitment, to test for the impact of inequality on conscripts’ performance. Our results show that between-group inequality amounts to about 30 per cent of total income inequality, and that teachers’ income inequality does not play a role in explaining differences in the performance of conscripts in the pedagogical examinations.
Floris, Joël