Analysis of Mechanisms behind of the Effects of Noncognitive Skills on Labor Market Outcomes

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K17079
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Public finance/Public economy
• Research Institution: Meiji Gakuin University
• Principal Investigator: LEE Sun Youn 明治学院大学, 国際学部, 准教授 (40711924)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 非認知能力 / 労働市場の成果 / 教育成果

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In economics, it is widely recognized, both in practice and in research, that measured cognitive ability is a strong predictor of educational outcomes and career success. However, comparatively, the role of noncognitive skills has received less attention in terms of explaining life outcomes. To attempt to explain the variation in labor market success which is not completely explained by cognitive ability, this study focused on noncognitive skills as a key predictor of earnings. The main finding is that agreeableness, one of the personality traits, contributes to higher annual income in male workers in Japan whereas it acts as a penalty for male workers in the U.S. However, the wage penalty of agreeableness observed in the U.S. are pronounced only in smaller companies and they disappear in large companies. This is observed in the same manner in Japan where the income premium is strengthened at large companies.

Free Research Field

労働経済学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

教育によって涵養された非認知能力は認知能力よりも子どもの長期的な成果に影響を与えることが既存研究により確認されており、多くの子ども、特に低所得家庭の子どもの人的資本を向上させるための効率的な政策を考える上でも、非認知能力の経済分析は重要である。世界的にも非認知能力が労働市場の成果に影響を与えることについては多くの研究がなされているが、そのメカニズムについては不明な点が多く、本研究で発見された非認知能力による教育及び労働市場での成果への影響は学術的な貢献があると考えられる。また、本研究は日本の人的資本を向上させるための政策を考える上で重要な判断材料となることから社会的意味があるとも考えられる。