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A Dynamic Model of Personality, Schooling, and Occupational Choice

Author

Listed:
  • Todd, P.
  • Zhang, W.

Abstract

This paper develops a dynamic model of schooling and occupational choices that incorporates personality traits, as measured by the so-called “big five” traits. The model is estimated using the HILDA dataset from Australia. Personality traits are found to play an important role in explaining education and occupation choices over the lifecycle. Results show that individuals with a comparative advantage in schooling and white-collar work have, on average, higher cognitive skills and higher personality trait scores. Allowing personality traits to evolve with age and with schooling proves to be important to capturing the heterogeneity in how people respond to educational policies. The estimated model is used to evaluate two education policies: compulsory senior secondary school and a 50% college tuition subsidy. Both policies are effective in increasing educational attainment. They also affect personality traits.

Suggested Citation

  • Todd, P. & Zhang, W., 2019. "A Dynamic Model of Personality, Schooling, and Occupational Choice," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1912, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    • Handle: RePEc:cam:camdae:1912
    Note: wz301
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    Cited by:

    1. James J. Heckman & Tomas Jagelka & Tim Kautz, 2019. "Some Contributions of Economics to the Study of Personality," Working Papers 2019-069, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    2. Christian Belzil & Jörgen Hansen, 2020. "The evolution of the US family income–schooling relationship and educational selectivity," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(7), pages 841-859, November.
    3. Tushar Bharati & Thea Harpley Green, 2021. "Age at school transition and children’s cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 21-06, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    4. Christian Belzil & Jörgen Hansen, 2020. "Reconciling Changes in Wage Inequality With Changes in College Selectivity Using a Behavioral Model," CIRANO Working Papers 2020s-36, CIRANO.
    5. Warn N. Lekfuangfu & Grace Lordan, 2023. "Documenting occupational sorting by gender in the UK across three cohorts: does a grand convergence rely on societal movements?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 64(5), pages 2215-2256, May.
    6. Kosse, Fabian & Tincani, Michaela M., 2020. "Prosociality predicts labor market success around the world," Munich Reprints in Economics 75115, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    7. Buser, Thomas & Ahlskog, Rafael & Johannesson, Magnus & Koellinger, Philipp & Oskarsson, Sven, 2023. "Using Genes to Explore the Relationship of Cognitive and Non-cognitive Skills with Education and Labor Market Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 16125, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. French, Eric Baird & O’Dea, Cormac & MacCuish, Jamie, 2021. "The Intergenerational Elasticity of Earnings: Exploring the Mechanisms," CEPR Discussion Papers 15975, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Flinn, C. & Todd, P. & Zhang, W., 2020. "Personality Traits, Job Search and the Gender Wage Gap," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2053, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    10. Thomas Buser & Rafael Ahlskog & Magnus Johannesson & Philipp Koellinger & Sven Oskarsson, 2021. "Using Genes to Explore the Effects of Cognitive and Non-cognitive Skills on Education and Labor Market Outcomes," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 21-088/I, Tinbergen Institute, revised 29 Mar 2023.
    11. Chuan, Amanda & Zhang, Weilong, 2023. "Non-college Occupations, Workplace Routinization, and the Gender Gap in College Enrollment," IZA Discussion Papers 16089, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Oliver Cassagneau-Francis, 2022. "Revisiting the Returns to Higher Education: Heterogeneity by Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Abilities," Working Papers hal-04067399, HAL.
    13. Gast'on P. Fern'andez, 2023. "Does personality affect the allocation of resources within households?," Papers 2307.02918, arXiv.org.
    14. Oliver Cassagneau-Francis, 2022. "Revisiting the Returns to Higher Education: Heterogeneity by Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Abilities," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-04067399, HAL.
    15. AndrÉ van Hoorn, 2022. "Automatability of Work and Preferences for Redistribution," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 84(1), pages 130-157, February.
    16. Chuan, A. & Zhang, W., 2021. "Non-College Occupations, Workplace Routinization, and the Gender Gap in College Enrollment," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2177, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    17. James J. Heckman & Bridget Galaty & Haihan Tian, 2023. "The Economic Approach to Personality, Character and Virtue," NBER Working Papers 31258, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Dante Amengual & Jesús Bueren & Julio A. Crego, 2021. "Endogenous health groups and heterogeneous dynamics of the elderly," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(7), pages 878-897, November.
    19. de New, Sonja C. & Schurer, Stefanie & Sulzmaier, Dominique, 2021. "Gender differences in the lifecycle benefits of compulsory schooling policies," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    personality traits and education policies; occupational choice; unobserved types; human capital investment; dynamic discrete choice;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C54 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling - - - Quantitative Policy Modeling
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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