[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bpj/bejeap/v24y2024i1p35-67n4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effect of Soft Skills on Academic Outcomes

Author

Listed:
  • Keng Shao-Hsun

    (Department of Applied Economics, National University of Kaohsiung, 700, Kaohsiung University Road, 81148, Kaohsiung, Taiwan)

Abstract
This paper uses administrative data and a soft skill index integrating seven personality traits to examine the relationship between soft skills and academic outcomes. I exploit the timing of soft skill assessment and study the interaction between soft and cognitive skills in education production. The results show that soft skills are positively associated with academic outcomes. Soft and cognitive skills are both substitutes and complements in education production. The complementarity between both skills is asymmetric. Soft skills and returns to cognitive skills exhibit a U-shaped relationship, while returns to soft skills fail to show such a relationship with cognitive skills. Time-use data suggest that soft skills may have a causal effect on academic achievements, and increased study time is a mechanism through which soft skills affect these outcomes. Soft skills can reduce inequality in academic outcomes due to differences in cognitive ability. Investment in non-cognitive skills can be quite rewarding.

Suggested Citation

  • Keng Shao-Hsun, 2024. "The Effect of Soft Skills on Academic Outcomes," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 24(1), pages 35-67, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:bejeap:v:24:y:2024:i:1:p:35-67:n:4
    DOI: 10.1515/bejeap-2022-0342
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/bejeap-2022-0342
    Download Restriction: For access to full text, subscription to the journal or payment for the individual article is required.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1515/bejeap-2022-0342?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    academic outcomes; soft skills; complementarity; study time; education production;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • J08 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics Policies
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bpj:bejeap:v:24:y:2024:i:1:p:35-67:n:4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.degruyter.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.