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The intergenerational transmission of noncognitive skills and their effect on education and employment outcomes

Author

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  • Ildefonso Mendez

    (Departamento de Economía Aplicada, Facultad de Economía y Empresa,University of Murcia)

  • Gema Zamarro

    (University of Arkansas
    University of Southern California)

Abstract

We use information on second-generation migrants to study the existence of a cultural component on the formation process of noncognitive skills and its effect on education and employment outcomes. Our measures of noncognitive skills include: personality traits that children are encouraged to learn at home and inherited civic capital. Individuals whose cultural heritage places a relatively higher value to independence and, in comparison, a relative lower value on child qualities positively associated with the conscientiousness personality factor, i.e. hard work and thrift, report lower education, worse occupational status and lower wages on average. Individuals with a higher inherited civic capital declare a higher educational level, but we find no effect of inherited civic capital on adult labor market outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Ildefonso Mendez & Gema Zamarro, 2018. "The intergenerational transmission of noncognitive skills and their effect on education and employment outcomes," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(2), pages 521-560, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jopoec:v:31:y:2018:i:2:d:10.1007_s00148-017-0661-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-017-0661-0
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    4. Hull, Marie & Norris, Jonathan, 2020. "The skill development of children of immigrants," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    5. Marcenaro-Gutierrez, O.D. & Lopez-Agudo, L.A. & Henriques, C.O., 2021. "Are soft skills conditioned by conflicting factors? A multiobjective programming approach to explore the trade-offs," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 18-40.
    6. Dong, Xiaoqi & Liang, Yinhe & Yu, Shuang, 2023. "Middle-achieving students are also my peers: The impact of peer effort on academic performance," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    7. Anna Bussu & Dimitri Paolini & Manuela Pulina & Giuseppe Zanzurino, 2023. "From Choice to Performance in Secondary Schools: Evidence from a Disadvantaged Setting in Italy," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 9(2), pages 529-555, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Culture; Civic capital; Child qualities; Noncognitive skills; Education; Employment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics

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