Locus of Control and its Intergenerational Implications for Early Childhood Skill Formation

Lekfuangfu, Warn N.; Powdthavee, Nattavudh; Warrinnier, Nele; Cornaglia, Francesca

doi:10.1111/ecoj.12414

Cited by 42 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 90 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Previous research has shown that individuals with positive control beliefs invest more in their own education (Coleman and Deleire 2003;Hadsell 2010) and in the education of their children (Lekfuangfu et al 2014), and adolescents' control beliefs are associated with parental socioeconomic status (Schurer 2015;Anger and Schnitzlein 2015). Lundborg et al (2015) show evidence on the education-related heterogeneity in the response to health shocks using Swedish administrative data, although the authors do not discuss the mechanisms.…”

Section: Mechanismmentioning

confidence: 97%

Bouncing back from health shocks: Locus of control and labor supply

Schurer

2017

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

My findings provide clear evidence of personality differences in labour supply responses to health shocks amongst German men. When compared with men who have positive control beliefs, men with negative control beliefs are on average 100% more likely to drop out of the labour force after a health shock. This drop out is unrelated to early retirement. In addition, when compared with men who have positive control beliefs, men with negative control beliefs work on average 12% fewer hours per week over the year when experiencing a health shock. These behavioural differences are strongest for men from low socioeconomic backgrounds, men who do not have access to private health insurance, and men who experience high intensity shocks to their health. Different labour-supply responses are also observed for conscientiousness and risk tolerance, traits that have been linked with willingness to invest and treatment compliance.Teaching individuals the ability to interpret experiences in an optimistic fashion and to understand the importance of taking self-responsibility could be a cost-effective way to counter-balance rising health care costs associated with an aging society and with increasing prevalence rates of avoidable illnesses (such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease). This would require interventions at the person or community level, with the possibility that such interventions begin during infancy and teenage years. ABOUT THE AUTHORSStefanie Schurer is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Economics at The University of Sydney. Her main research interest is the Economics of Human Development. Most of her current research projects explore the evolution of skills, preferences, and health over the life course and the role that parents and the public sector play in determining these skills. AbstractMany studies have demonstrated a causal effect of ill health on labor-supply. In this study, Iexplore the personality-related heterogeneity -measured by differences in control beliefs -in the labor-supply response to health shocks. To identify such behavioral differences, I follow the labor-supply trajectories of 649 initially full-time employed and healthy men who experience at some point in time an episode of ill health. When compared with men who have positive control beliefs, men with negative control beliefs are on average 100% more likely to drop out of the labor force -a drop out unrelated to early retirement -and work on average 12% less hours per week the year after the health shock. These behavioral differences remain robust to alternative estimation samples and health-shock definitions. They are strongest for men from low socioeconomic backgrounds, who do not have access to private health insurance, or who experience high intensity shocks. Heterogeneous labor-supply responses are also observed for conscientiousness and risk tolerance, traits that have been linked with willingness to invest and treatment compliance. An important conclusion from the findings is that a small set of non-cognitive skills produ...

show abstract

Section: Mechanismmentioning

confidence: 97%

Bouncing back from health shocks: Locus of control and labor supply

Schurer

2017

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A related non-cognitive skill is individual's perceived locus of control. This concept has received much attention from economists in recent years (Lekfuangfu et al, 2018, Abay et al, 2017, Cobb-Clark et al, 2016, Caliendo et al, 2015, Coleman and DeLeire, 2003. Individuals differ in their belief of how much control they have over important live outcomes.…”

Section: Non-cognitive Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-cognitive skills and climate change adaptation: empirical evidence from Ghana’s pineapple farmers

Wuepper

Zilberman

Sauer

2019

Climate and Development

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In the context of accelerating climate change, it is important to understand the determinants of farmers' adaptive capacity. Here, we focus on the role of non-cognitive skills, including perceived self-efficacy, locus of control beliefs, and time preferences. Our sample consists of 398 pineapple farmers in Southern Ghana and we rely on instrumental variables to identify the causal effect. We find that those with higher non-cognitive skills are more likely to respond to the adversities of climate change by adopting a climate smart technology (mulching). When exploring why, we find that they perceive their costs of innovation adoption as lower.

show abstract

“…Moreover, there are critical periods for the development of human capabilitieswhich vary across skills -making it important to consider not only which interventions work, but also for whom and at which ages. Importantly, evidence is emerging that many non-cognitive skills like locus of control are correlated across generations (e.g., Anger 2012) and that a mother's locus of control is linked to a vast array of child outcomes (e.g., Lekfuangfu et al 2014). Thus, there is potential for interventions targeting locus of control to have important inter-generational consequences.…”

Section: Policy To Improve Locus Of Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Locus of control and the labor market

Cobb‐Clark

2015

IZA J Labor Econ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper reviews the role of locus of control in the labor market. I begin with a discussion of the conceptual origins of locus of control, including its relationship to related concepts such as self-efficacy, motivation, and self-control. The relationship between locus of control and labor market success is then summarized. In doing so, I pay careful attention to what we know about three potential mechanisms -human capital investments, hiring decisions, and optimal incentive contracts -through which locus of control might operate. Finally, the broader implications of these relationships for public policy and future research are discussed.

show abstract

Locus of Control and its Intergenerational Implications for Early Childhood Skill Formation

Cited by 42 publications

References 90 publications

Bouncing back from health shocks: Locus of control and labor supply

Bouncing back from health shocks: Locus of control and labor supply

Non-cognitive skills and climate change adaptation: empirical evidence from Ghana’s pineapple farmers

Locus of control and the labor market

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About