Can Competitiveness predict Education and Labor Market Outcomes? Evidence from Incentivized Choice and Survey Measures

Thomas Buser, Muriel Niederle and Hessel Oosterbeek

No 28916, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We assess the predictive power of two measures of competitiveness for education and labor market outcomes using a large, representative survey panel. The first is incentivized and is an online adaptation of the laboratory-based Niederle-Vesterlund measure. The second is an unincentivized survey question eliciting general competitiveness on an 11-point scale. Both measures are strong and consistent predictors of income, occupation, completed level of education and field of study. The predictive power of the new unincentivized measure for these outcomes is robust to controlling for other traits, including risk attitudes, confidence and the Big Five personality traits. For most outcomes, the predictive power of competitiveness exceeds that of the other traits. Gender differences in competitiveness can explain 5-10 percent of the observed gender differences in education and labor market outcomes.

JEL-codes: C9 I20 J16 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-exp and nep-lma
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Working Paper: Can competitiveness predict education and labor market outcomes? Evidence from incentivized choice and survey measures (2020)
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