Can Mentoring Alleviate Family Disadvantage in Adolescence? A Field Experiment to Improve Labor-Market Prospects
Sven Resnjanskij, Jens Ruhose, Simon Wiederhold, Ludger Woessmann, Katharina Wedel
Journal of Political Economy,
im Erscheinen
Abstract
We study a mentoring program that aims to improve the labor-market prospects of school-attending adolescents from disadvantaged families by offering them a university-student mentor. Our RCT investigates program effectiveness on three outcome dimensions that are highly predictive of later labor-market success: math grades, patience/social skills, and labor-market orientation. For low-SES adolescents, the mentoring increases a combined index of the outcomes by over half a standard deviation after one year, with significant increases in each dimension. Part of the treatment effect is mediated by establishing mentors as attachment figures who provide guidance for the future. Effects on grades and labor-market orientation, but not on patience/social skills, persist three years after program start. By that time, the mentoring also improves early realizations of school-to-work transitions for low-SES adolescents. The mentoring is not effective for higher-SES adolescents. The results show that substituting lacking family support by other adults can help disadvantaged children at adolescent age.
Artikel Lesen
Durch eine Ausbildung erworbene Kompetenzen zahlen sich auf dem Arbeitsmarkt aus
Christina Langer, Jakob Peiffer, Simon Wiederhold
ifo Schnelldienst,
Nr. 7,
2023
Abstract
Ein Großteil der Jugendlichen in Deutschland beginnt nach der Schule eine duale Berufsausbildung. Die Inhalte dieser Berufsausbildungen und die dort vermittelten Kompetenzen sind bundesweit einheitlich in Ausbildungsplänen geregelt. Wir erfassen insgesamt mehr als 13 000 verschiedene Kompetenzen aus diesen Ausbildungsplänen, sowie deren genaue Lerndauer. Vor allem kognitive, soziale und digitale Kompetenzen, die während der Ausbildung erworben wurden, zahlen sich auf dem Arbeitsmarkt aus. Dabei steigen die Einkommenserträge höherer Kompetenzen über die Karriere hinweg an. Das zeigt unsere Analyse der Ausbildungsplandaten kombiniert mit administrativen Lohndaten des Instituts für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB) über einen Zeitraum von insgesamt 30 Jahren. Außerdem dokumentieren wir steigende Erträge von digitalen und sozialen Kompetenzen seit den 1990er Jahren, während die Erträge von kognitiven Kompetenzen nur geringfügig zugenommen haben.
Artikel Lesen
Where STEM Graduates Stem From: The Intergenerational Transmission of Comparative Skill Advantages
Eric A. Hanushek, Babs Jacobs, Guido Schwerdt, Rolf van der Velden, Stan Vermeulen, Simon Wiederhold
VoxEU,
Juni
2023
Abstract
The standard economic model of occupational choice following a basic Roy model emphasizes individual selection and comparative advantage, but the sources of comparative advantage are not well understood. We employ a unique combination of Dutch survey and registry data that links math and language skills across generations and permits analysis of the intergenerational transmission of comparative skill advantages. Exploiting within-family between-subject variation in skills, we show that comparative advantages in math of parents are significantly linked to those of their children. A causal interpretation follows from a novel IV estimation that isolates variation in parent skill advantages due to their teacher and classroom peer quality. Finally, we show the strong influence of family skill transmission on children’s choices of STEM fields.
Artikel Lesen
Where Do STEM Graduates Stem From? The Intergenerational Transmission of Comparative Skill Advantages
Eric A. Hanushek, Babs Jacobs, Guido Schwerdt, Rolf van der Velden, Stan Vermeulen, Simon Wiederhold
NBER Working Paper,
Nr. 31186,
2023
Abstract
The standard economic model of occupational choice following a basic Roy model emphasizes individual selection and comparative advantage, but the sources of comparative advantage are not well understood. We employ a unique combination of Dutch survey and registry data that links math and language skills across generations and permits analysis of the intergenerational transmission of comparative skill advantages. Exploiting within-family between-subject variation in skills, we show that comparative advantages in math of parents are significantly linked to those of their children. A causal interpretation follows from a novel IV estimation that isolates variation in parent skill advantages due to their teacher and classroom peer quality. Finally, we show the strong influence of family skill transmission on children’s choices of STEM fields.
Artikel Lesen
The Value of Early-Career Skills
Christina Langer, Simon Wiederhold
CESifo Working Paper,
Nr. 10288,
2023
Abstract
We develop novel measures of early-career skills that are more detailed, comprehensive, and labor-market-relevant than existing skill proxies. We exploit that skill requirements of apprenticeships in Germany are codified in state-approved, nationally standardized apprenticeship plans. These plans provide more than 13,000 different skills and the exact duration of learning each skill. Following workers over their careers in administrative data, we find that cognitive, social, and digital skills acquired during apprenticeship are highly – yet differently – rewarded. We also document rising returns to digital and social skills since the 1990s, with a more moderate increase in returns to cognitive skills.
Artikel Lesen
Startseite
Kaufkraft kehrt zurück – Politische Unsicherheit hoch Die Projektgruppe Gemeinschaftsdiagnose prognostiziert für das...
Zur Seite
Psychische Gesundheit
Psychische Gesundheit Psychische Gesundheit (englisch mental health) ist ein Zustand des Wohlbefindens, in dem eine Person ihre Fähigkeiten ausschöpfen, die normalen...
Zur Seite
Elderly Left Behind? How Older Workers Can Participate in the Modern Labor Market
Oliver Falck, Valentin Lindlacher, Simon Wiederhold
EconPol Forum,
Nr. 5,
2022
Abstract
In her 2021 State of the Union address, European Commission’s President Ursula von der Leyen announced that “[the EU] will invest in 5G and fiber. But equally important is the investment in digital skills.” Indeed, the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility, which runs until 2026, has earmarked substantial funds to tackle the digital divide, in acknowledgment of the fact that the EU is not only missing ICT specialists but also that many Europeans do not have sufficient digital skills to thrive in today’s society and labor market. Many observers argue that older workers in particular lack digital skills, suffering more often from computer anxiety and showing lower computer self-efficacy (Czaja et al. 2006). This lack of skills hampers their employability and productivity in a technologically fast-changing world.
Artikel Lesen
Skill Mismatch and the Costs of Job Displacement
Frank Neffke, Ljubica Nedelkoska, Simon Wiederhold
CESifo Working Paper,
Nr. 9703,
2022
Abstract
When workers are displaced from their jobs in mass layoffs or firm closures, they experience lasting adverse labor market consequences. We study how these consequences vary with the amount of skill mismatch that workers experience when returning to the labor market. Using novel measures of skill redundancy and skill shortage, we analyze individuals' work histories in Germany between 1975 and 2010. We estimate difference-in-differences models, using a sample in which we match displaced workers to statistically similar non-displaced workers. We find that displacements increase the probability of occupational change eleven fold, and that the type of skill mismatch after displacement is strongly associated with the magnitude of post-displacement earnings losses. Whereas skill shortages are associated with relatively quick returns to the counterfactual earnings trajectories that displaced workers would have experienced absent displacement, skill redundancy sets displaced workers on paths with permanently lower earnings.
Artikel Lesen
The Intergenerational Transmission of Cognitive Skills
Eric A. Hanushek, Babs Jacobs, Guido Schwerdt, Rolf van der Velden, Stan Vermeulen, Simon Wiederhold
VoxEU,
February
2022
Abstract
Parents influence their children in many ways, but which family features actually cause the strong intergenerational linkages that we observe? This column presents the first causal evidence on cognitive skill transmission in the family. Using Dutch survey and registry data, the authors show that parents’ maths and language skills strongly affect the same skills in their children, and that skills within dynasties are not just genetically determined but are significantly affected by educational experiences. This highlights the importance of good educational environments in alleviating persistent inequalities.
Artikel Lesen
