The Effect of Soft Skills on Academic Outcomes

Shao-Hsun Keng

The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 2024, vol. 24, issue 1, 35-67

Abstract: This paper uses administrative data and a soft skill index integrating seven personality traits to examine the relationship between soft skills and academic outcomes. I exploit the timing of soft skill assessment and study the interaction between soft and cognitive skills in education production. The results show that soft skills are positively associated with academic outcomes. Soft and cognitive skills are both substitutes and complements in education production. The complementarity between both skills is asymmetric. Soft skills and returns to cognitive skills exhibit a U-shaped relationship, while returns to soft skills fail to show such a relationship with cognitive skills. Time-use data suggest that soft skills may have a causal effect on academic achievements, and increased study time is a mechanism through which soft skills affect these outcomes. Soft skills can reduce inequality in academic outcomes due to differences in cognitive ability. Investment in non-cognitive skills can be quite rewarding.

Keywords: academic outcomes; soft skills; complementarity; study time; education production (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 I23 I26 J08 J23 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1515/bejeap-2022-0342

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