MSE Silver Jubilee distinguished lecture to be delivered by Dr. Jaya Krishnakumar, Professor of Econometrics Geneva School of Economics and Management University of Geneva, Switzerland.
Title: Skills as mediators in the relationship between education and work advantage
Abstract: In this paper, we explicitly introduce cognitive and non-cognitive skills in the relationship between educational investments and work advantage, while considering the latter as a multifaceted concept covering different characteristics of a job. We build upon J. Heckman’s technology of skill formation adopting a pluralistic viewpoint of human life, which is a prominent element of A. Sen’s Capability Approach. We formulate a corresponding econometric model that also takes account of possible endogeneity of investments for skill acquisition. Applying it to Bolivia, we confirm that different dimensions of work advantage are significantly influenced by cognitive and non-cognitive skills. We find that relatively advantaged people in terms of employment opportunities and earnings, as well as safe work environments, are heavily concentrated in the highest quintiles of the distributions of both types of skills. Relatively disadvantaged people in terms of decent working time are highly concentrated in the lowest quintile of the cognitive skills distribution. Completion of primary school situates an individual in the above-average group of people in terms of stocks of non-cognitive skills, a condition requiring an undergraduate college degree with respect to cognitive skills.
Date and time: 13th of February, 2018, 3 to 4 pm
Venue: New Auditorium, MSE
