The Labor Market Returns to Cognitive and Noncognitive Ability: Evidence from the Swedish Enlistment
Erik Lindqvist and
Roine Westman (roine.vestman@nyu.edu)
Additional contact information
Roine Westman: New York University, Postal: Department of Economics
No 794, Working Paper Series from Research Institute of Industrial Economics
Abstract:
We use data from the military enlistment for a large representative sample of Swedish men to assess the importance of cognitive and noncognitive ability for labor market outcomes. The measure of noncognitive ability is based on a personal interview conducted by a psychologist. Unlike survey-based measures of noncognitive ability, this measure is a substantially stronger predictor of labor market outcomes than cognitive ability. In particular, we find strong evidence that men who fare badly in the labor market in the sense of long-term unemployment or low annual earnings lack noncognitive but not cognitive ability. We point to a technological explanation for this result. Noncognitive ability is an important determinant of productivity irrespective of occupation or ability level, though it seems to be of particular importance for workers in a managerial position. In contrast, cognitive ability is valuable only for men in qualified occupations. As a result, noncognitive ability is more important for men at the verge of being priced out of the labor market.
Keywords: Personality; Noncognitive ability; Cognitive ability; Intelligence; Human capital (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J21 J24 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 58 pages
Date: 2009-03-26
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-hrm, nep-lab and nep-neu
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)
Published as Lindqvist, Erik and Roine Vestman, 'The Labor Market Returns to Cognitive and Noncognitive Ability: Evidence from the Swedish Enlistment' in American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2011, pages 101-128.
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Journal Article: The Labor Market Returns to Cognitive and Noncognitive Ability: Evidence from the Swedish Enlistment (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:0794
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