Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Most research on the economic payoffs of skills has used individuals' level of schooling attained-typically years or level of education or training received-as a key proxy for skills. Such research has consistently found that individual returns to schooling are positive and that returns tend to be higher in low- and middle-income countries than in higher-income countries. However, years in school is only one proxy for skills-are these returns still observed using other measures as proxies? This study uses data from the STEP Skills Measurement Survey to examine the extent to which there is an independent association between cognitive and noncognitive skills and earnings in low- and middle-income countries. The study uses measures of reading proficiency and complexity of on-the-job computer tasks to proxy cognitive skills, and personality and behavioral measures to proxy noncognitive skills. The results demonstrate that even when controlling for schooling and background factors, these skills pay off in the labor market. This is particularly the case for the measures of cognitive skills, while noncognitive skills show some significant, but small, effects on earnings. The findings also suggest that there is significant heterogeneity across countries in how skills are valued in the labor market.

Cognitive Skills --- Labor Market Outcomes --- Noncognitive Skills --- Skills

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Early childhood is a crucial period for the cognitive, social, emotional, physical, and language development of children. Of the 200 million children who do not reach their developmental potential worldwide, 66 percent live in South Asia. This paper explores gaps in knowledge among educators in Eastern Nepal about the importance of early childhood. The results of a survey headteachers and teachers show that teachers often do not place enough weight on the importance of behaviors that contribute to the growth and development of children in early childhood. There are also large gaps in teachers' understanding and practice of classroom accommodations for children with disabilities. The paper illustrates that educators, who play a large role in children's lives during early years, may be uninformed about the importance of early childhood development. The paper provides policy recommendations that can help policymakers target areas that lack understanding and improve early childhood development education and understanding among educators.

Cognitive Development --- Cognitive Skills --- Disability --- Early Childhood Development --- Early Childhood Education --- Education --- Education Quality --- Educational Sciences --- Effective Schools and Teachers --- Non-Cognitive Skills --- Social Protections and Labor --- Teacher Training

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Evidence from developed country data suggests that cognitive and non-cognitive skills contribute to improved labor market outcomes. This paper tests this hypothesis in a developing country by using an individual-level data set from Peru that incorporates modules to measure cognitive and non-cognitive skills. The paper estimates a structural latent model with unobserved heterogeneity to capture full ability rather than just measured skill. It also applies standard ordinary least squares techniques for comparison. The analysis confirms that cognitive and non-cognitive skills are positively correlated with a range of labor market outcomes in Peru. In particular, cognitive skills positively correlate with wages and the probability of being a wage worker, white-collar, and formal worker, with verbal fluency and numeric ability playing particularly strong roles. The results are robust to methodology. The patterns are less uniform for non-cognitive skills. For instance, perseverance of effort (grit) emerges strongly for most outcomes regardless of methodology. However, plasticity-an aggregation of openness to experience and emotional stability-is only correlated with employment, and only when using the structural latent model. The ordinary least squares method also finds that the disaggregated non-cognitive skills of kindness, cooperation, emotional stability, and openness to experience emerge significantly, mostly for the wage estimates. The different results derived from the ordinary least squares and the structural model with latent skills suggest strong measurement bias in most non-cognitive skills measurement. These findings, although only correlational because of the use of a single cross-section, suggest that recent efforts by the Peruvian government to incorporate non-cognitive skill development into the school curriculum are justified.

Access & Equity in Basic Education --- Cognitive --- Education --- Education for All --- Educational Sciences --- Effective Schools & Teachers --- Employment --- Latent Skills --- Non-Cognitive Skills --- Primary Education --- Schooling --- Structural Model --- Wages

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

This paper documents novel evidence of positive assortative matching in African marriage markets along cognitive and socio-emotional skills, time and risk preferences, and education, using data from rural Mozambique, Cote d'Ivoire, and Malawi.

Cognitive Skills --- Gender --- Gender and Development --- Gender and Social Development --- Gender and Social Policy --- Gender Innovation Lab --- Gender Policy --- Marriage Market --- Socioeconomic Skills

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

This paper examines the relationship between individuals' skills and labor market outcomes for the working-age population of Colombia's urban areas. Using a 2012 unique household survey, the paper finds that cognitive skills (aptitudes to perform mental tasks such as comprehension or reasoning) and socio-emotional skills (personality traits and behaviors) matter for favorable labor market outcomes in the Colombian context, although they have distinct roles. Cognitive skills are greatly associated with higher earnings and holding a formal job or a high-qualified occupation. By contrast, socio-emotional skills appear to have little direct influence on these outcomes, but play a stronger role in labor market participation. Both types of skills, especially cognitive skills, are largely associated with pursuing tertiary education. The analysis applies standard econometric techniques as a benchmark and structural estimations to correct for the measurement error of skill constructs.

Cognitive skills --- Education --- Education for all --- Educational sciences --- Effective schools & teachers --- Labor market outcomes --- Labor markets --- Latent skills --- Personality traits --- Primary education --- Returns to skills --- Social protections and labor --- Socio-emotional skills --- Unobserved heterogeneity