Adults’ Cognitive and Socioemotional Skills and their Labor Market Outcomes in Colombia
Previous research has shown that people with higher cognitive skills (mental abilities) and socioemotional skills (behaviors and personality) get better labor market outcomes. It is unclear, however, if this conclusion applies to low- and middle-income countries, given that existing literature...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2015
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/954461468189869519/adults-cognitive-and-socioemotional-skills-and-their-labor-market-outcomes-in-colombia http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22847 |
| Summary: | Previous research has shown that people with higher cognitive
skills (mental abilities) and socioemotional skills
(behaviors and personality) get better labor market outcomes.
It is unclear, however, if this conclusion applies
to low- and middle-income countries, given that existing
literature builds on studies that are dominantly about highincome
countries. In this paper, we explore how cognitive
and socioemotional skills of adults, ages 15–64, relate to
their labor market outcomes in the context of Colombia.
Controlling for a range of confounding factors in a crosssectional
survey, we do find that adults with higher skills also
have better outcomes, while cognitive and socioemotional
skills correlate with different ones and seemingly through
different channels. Adults with higher cognitive skills have
better jobs (with higher earnings, more formal, and highskilled)
and are more likely to complete tertiary education.
Socioemotional skills correlate more modestly with having
a better job but more strongly with labor market participation
and tertiary-education completion. Results suggest that
adults with both cognitive and socioemotional skills tend to
do better in the labor market and that policies boosting the
development of both types may be beneficial in Colombia. |
|---|