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Cognitive skills are more relevant in explaining earnings,
socio-emotional skills in determining labor supply and schooling
Common proxies, such as years of education, have been shown to
be ineffective at capturing cross-country differences in skills acquisition, as well as the
role they play in the labor market. A large body of research shows that direct measures of
skills, in particular cognitive and socio-emotional ones, provide more adequate estimations of
individuals’ differences in potential productive capacity than the quantity of education they
receive. Evidence shows that cognitive skills in particular are quite relevant to explain
wages, while socio-emotional skills are more associated with labor force and education
participation decisions.
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Student sorting into classes complicates policies that utilize peer effects to optimize educational outcomes
The role of social interactions in modifying individual behavior is central to many fields of social science. In education, one essential aspect is that “good” peers can potentially improve students’ academic achievement, career choices, or labor market outcomes later in life. Indeed, evidence suggests that good peers are important in raising student attainment, both in compulsory schooling and university. Interventions that change the ability group composition in ways that improve student educational outcomes without exacerbating inequality therefore offer a promising basis for education policies.
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Despite increasingly generous parental leave schemes their
advantages over subsidized childcare remain unclear
Most OECD countries spend substantially more on maternity leave
schemes than on early childcare. However, given high tax burdens and rapidly aging
populations, female labor force participation is critically needed. Moreover, it is important
to know whether the main beneficiaries, the children themselves, reap more benefits from one
or the other in the long term. The first cohorts exposed to the introduction or extension of
maternity/paternity leave schemes and subsidized childcare programs have now completed
education and entered the labor market, allowing an investigation of these programs’ long-term
economic effects.
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External school leaving exams raise student
achievement and improve how grades are understood in the labor market
Reaching the policy goal of improving student
achievement by adding resources to the school system has often proven
elusive. By contrast, ample evidence indicates that central exit exams
constitute an important feature of a school system’s institutional
framework, which can hold students, teachers, schools, and administrators
accountable for student outcomes. While critics point to issues such as
teaching test-only skills, which may leave students ill-prepared for the
real world, the evidence does not bear this out. Overall, central exams are
related to better student achievement, favorable labor market outcomes, and
higher economic growth.
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Relative costs and family characteristics
determine the effectiveness of different forms of childcare
Increasing population age and low fertility
rates, which characterize most modern societies, compromise the balance
between people who can participate in the labor market and people who need
care. This is a demographic and social issue that is likely to grow in
importance for future generations. It is therefore crucial to understand
what factors can positively influence fertility decisions. Policies related
to the availability and costs of different kinds of childcare (e.g. formal
care, grandparents, childminders) should be considered and promoted after an
evaluation of their effects on the probability of women having children.
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While mostly missing their primary objectives, adult
literacy programs can still improve key socio-economic outcomes
In addition to the traditional education system
targeting children and youth, one potentially important vehicle to improve
literacy and numeracy skills is adult literacy programs (ALPs). In many
developing countries, however, these programs do not seem to achieve these
hoped for, ex ante, objectives and have therefore received less attention,
if not been largely abandoned, in recent years. But, evidence shows that
ALPs do affect other important socio-economic outcomes such as health,
household income, and labor market participation by enhancing participants’
health knowledge and income-generating activities.
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Secondary and higher education are windows of
opportunity for boosting students’ life skills
Life skills, sometimes referred to as
noncognitive skills or personality traits (e.g. conscientiousness or locus
of control—the belief to influence events and their outcomes), affect labor
market productivity. Policymakers and academics are thus exploring whether
such skills should be taught at the high school or college level. A small
portfolio of recent studies shows encouraging evidence that education could
strengthen life skills in adolescence. However, as no uniform approach
exists on which life skills are most important and how to best measure them,
many important questions must be answered before life skill development can
become an integral part of school curricula.
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Increasing teacher certification in developing
countries is widely believed to improve student performance; yet the
evidence suggests otherwise
Teachers are perhaps the most important
determinant of education quality. But what makes a teacher effective?
Developing countries expend substantial resources on certifying teachers and
retaining those who become certified; moreover, policymakers and aid donors
prioritize increasing the prevalence of certified teachers. Yet there is
little evidence that certification improves student outcomes. In fact,
augmenting a school's teaching corps with contract teachers hired outside
the civil service and without formal qualifications may be more effective in
boosting student performance.
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Changes in compulsory schooling laws have
significant effects on certain population groups, but are costly to
implement
Compulsory schooling laws are a common policy
tool to achieve greater participation in education, particularly from
marginalized groups. Raising the compulsory schooling requirement forces
students to remain in school which, on balance, is good for them in terms of
labor market outcomes such as earnings. But the usefulness of this approach
rests with how the laws affect the distribution of years of schooling, and
the wider benefits of the increase in schooling. There is also evidence that
such a policy has an intergenerational impact, which can help address
persistence in poverty across generations.
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Jobs require skills, but they also build skills
and create a demand for them
Skills are widely regarded as being necessary
for boosting productivity, stimulating innovation, and creating new jobs,
while skill mismatches are often cited as being responsible for a lack of
dynamism in the labor market. However, heavy investments in technical and
vocational training programs are seldom a “silver bullet.” Recent evidence
on skill building not only points to the core importance of foundational
skills (both cognitive and social) for success in the labor market, but also
emphasizes how jobs themselves can lead to learning and shape social
competencies that, in turn, ignite innovation and create more jobs.
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