Effect of Secondary Education on Cognitive and Non-cognitive Skills

Jani-Petteri Ollikainen (jani-petteri.ollikainen@labore.fi), Tuomas Pekkarinen, Roope Uusitalo and Hanna Virtanen (hanna.virtanen@etla.fi)
Additional contact information
Jani-Petteri Ollikainen: LABORE Labour Institute for Economic Research
Hanna Virtanen: ETLA - The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy

No 15318, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We exploit admission cutoffs to secondary schools to study the effects of general academically oriented, versus vocational secondary schooling on cognitive and non-cognitive skills using a regression discontinuity design. We measure these skills using the Finnish Defence Forces Basic Skills Test that due to compulsory military service covers the vast majority of Finnish men and is a strong predictor of later labor market success. We find that large differences in average skills across students that differ in their schooling when entering military service are due to selection rather than causal effects of secondary schooling on either cognitive or non-cognitive skills.

Keywords: secondary schooling; regression discontinuity; non-cognitive skills (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 42 pages
Date: 2022-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-eur, nep-lma and nep-neu
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published - published in: Economics of Education Review, 2024, 103, 102603

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Related works:
Journal Article: Effect of secondary education on cognitive and non-cognitive skills (2024)
Working Paper: Effect of secondary education on cognitive and non-cognitive skills (2024)
Working Paper: Effect of Secondary Education on Cognitive and Non-cognitive Skills (2022)
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