Noncognitive skills in economics: Models, measurement, and empirical evidence

Hendrik Thiel and Stephan Thomsen

Research in Economics, 2013, vol. 67, issue 2, 189-214

Abstract: There is an increasing economic literature considering personality traits as a source of individual differences in labor market productivity and other outcomes. This paper provides an overview on the role of these skills with a particular focus on measurement and estimation. Based on the relevant literature from different disciplines, common psychometric measures used to assess personality are discussed and critical assumptions for their applications are highlighted. Moreover, we report and describe ideas of recent research that aims at incorporating personality traits into economic models of decision making. Based on these foundations, the main results of the empirical literature regarding noncognitive skills are summarized. Finally, we provide a brief guide to econometric analysis with consideration of common econometric pitfalls that evolve in empirical analysis of personality traits and review possible solutions.

Keywords: Noncognitive skills; Personality; Human capital formation; Psychometric measures (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (26)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Noncognitive skills in economics: Models, measurement, and empirical evidence (2011)
Working Paper: Noncognitive Skills in Economics: Models, Measurement, and Empirical Evidence (2009)
Working Paper: Noncognitive skills in economics: Models, measurement, and empirical evidence (2009)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:reecon:v:67:y:2013:i:2:p:189-214

DOI: 10.1016/j.rie.2013.03.002

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