Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/148553 
Year of Publication: 
2016
Series/Report no.: 
SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research No. 875
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
We present empirical evidence suggesting that technological progress in the digital age will be biased not only with respect to skills acquired through education but also with respect to noncognitive skills (personality). We measure the direction of technological change by estimated future digitalization probabilities of occupations, and noncognitive skills by the Big Five personality traits from several German worker surveys. Even though we control extensively for education and experience, we find that workers characterized by strong openness and emotional stability tend to be less susceptible to digitalization. Traditional indicators of human capital thus measure workers' skill endowments only imperfectly.
Subjects: 
Worker personality
Noncognitive skills
Digital transformation
Direction of technical change
Germany
JEL: 
C25
J24
O33
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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