Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/161189 
Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 10566
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Economists have long recognized the important role of formal schooling and cognitive skills on labor market participation and wages. More recently, increasing attention has turned to the role of personality traits, or noncognitive skills. This study is among the first to examine how both cognitive and noncognitive skills measured in childhood predict educational attainment and early labor market outcomes in a developing country setting. Analyzing longitudinal data on rural children from one of China's poorest provinces, we find that both cognitive and noncognitive skills, measured when children are 9-12, 13-16, and 17-21 years old, are important predictors of whether they remain in school or enter the work force at age 17-21. The predictive power of specific skill variables differ between boys and girls. Conditioning on years of schooling, there is no strong evidence that skills measured in childhood predict wages in the early years of labor market participation.
Subjects: 
cognitive skills
noncognitive skills
school-to-work transition
schooling
rural China
JEL: 
I25
J16
J24
O53
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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