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Do NEETs Need Grit?

Author

Listed:
  • Mendolia, Silvia

    (University of Torino)

  • Walker, Ian

    (Lancaster University)

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between personality traits in adolescence and education and labour market choices. In particular, we investigate the impact of grit (a tendency and ability to sustain interest in long term goals - perseverance) on the risk of youths being NEET – "Not in Education, Employment or Training". Thus, our focus is on early drop-out from the labour market and education at age 18-20. Individuals with high levels of grit are less likely to be out of education or employment, while low self-esteem and external locus of control increase the chances of experiencing these conditions. We use propensity score matching to control for a rich set of adolescent and family characteristics and our results show that personality traits do affect education and employment choices. We test the robustness of our results using the methodology proposed by Altonji et al. (2005) that consists of making hypotheses about the correlation between the unobservables and observables that determine the outcomes and the unobservables that influence personality.

Suggested Citation

  • Mendolia, Silvia & Walker, Ian, 2014. "Do NEETs Need Grit?," IZA Discussion Papers 8740, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8740
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Francesco Filippucci, 2022. "What Do NEETs Need? The Effect of Combining Activation Policies and Cash Transfers," Working Papers halshs-03524083, HAL.
    2. Alfredo Alvarado & Belén Conde & Rafael Novella & Andrea Repetto, 2020. "NEETs in Latin America and the Caribbean: Skills, Aspirations, and Information," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(8), pages 1273-1307, November.
    3. Andrea Ciccarelli & Marco Di Domizio & Elena Fabrizi, 2017. "Some Remarks On The Causal Relationship Between Family Backgrounds And Neet Status," RIEDS - Rivista Italiana di Economia, Demografia e Statistica - The Italian Journal of Economic, Demographic and Statistical Studies, SIEDS Societa' Italiana di Economia Demografia e Statistica, vol. 71(3), pages 71-80, July-Sept.
    4. Anna Zudina, 2017. "What Makes Youth Become NEET? The Evidence from Russian LFS," HSE Working papers WP BRP 177/EC/2017, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    5. Daniel Gladwell & Gurleen Popli & Aki Tsuchiya, 2015. "A Dynamic Analysis of Skill Formation and NEET status," Working Papers 2015016, The University of Sheffield, Department of Economics.
    6. Michal Brzezinski, 2017. "Childhood circumstances, personality traits and adult-life economic outcomes in developing countries: Evidence from STEP," IBS Working Papers 05/2017, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych.
    7. Francesco Filippucci, 2022. "What Do NEETs Need? The Effect of Combining Activation Policies and Cash Transfers," PSE Working Papers halshs-03524083, HAL.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    locus of control; grit; NEET; personality; self-esteem;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

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