1. The Benefits and Correlates of Learning at Work:
Empirical Evidence Using PIAAC and STEP Data
Victoria Levin
Marcela Gutierrez Bernal
Alexandria Valerio
Carla Solis Uehara
November 29, 2018

2. Outline Motivation Conceptual framework: Drivers of learning at work
Data
Correlates of learning at work
Benefits of learning at work
Policy implications

3. Outline Motivation Conceptual framework: Drivers of learning at work
Data
Correlates of learning at work
Benefits of learning at work
Policy implications

4. What does it take to be a “well-educated” person in the 21st Century?
Cognitive skills
Socio-emotional
skills
Technical
skills
Skill
Set
Cognitive
Involving the use of logical, intuitive and creative thinking
Raw problem solving ability vs. knowledge to solve problems
Verbal ability, numeracy, problem solving, memory (working and long-term) and mental speed
Socio-emotional
Beliefs, personality traits, Behavioral skills
Big 5 traits: Openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, emotional stability
Behaviors/attitudes: Self-regulation, Grit/perseverance, decision making, self & interpersonal skills
Technical
Involving manual dexterity and use of methods, materials, tools & instruments
Developed through VET/university or acquired on the job
Related to specific occupations/trades (e.g. engineer, economist, IT specialist, plumber)

5. Education ≠ basic skills, even for youth
Percentage of youth (aged 19-20) with at least upper-secondary education scoring below minimum literacy proficiency (PIAAC and STEP)
Notes: i) Data on Armenia, Bolivia, Colombia, Georgia, Ghana, Kenya, Kosovo, Serbia, Ukraine, and Vietnam: World Bank’s STEP Skills Measurement Surveys; data on rest of economies: Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) data set; ii) Tertiary education is merged with upper secondary education; iii) STEP surveys are representative of urban areas; iv) The PIAAC sample for the Russian Federation does not include the population of the Moscow municipal area; v) Minimum literacy proficiency threshold is defined as level 2 and above; individuals that score below level 2 are able to identify letters or words but are not able to deploy the full set of cognitive strategies required to integrate, evaluate, or interpret information from a variety of text materials and text complexity.

6. Can learning at work be an equalizer?
Does learning at work correlate with other skills, cognitive and socioemotional?
Does learning at work pay off?

7. Outline Motivation Conceptual framework: Drivers of learning at work
Data
Correlates of learning at work
Benefits of learning at work
Policy implications

8. Potential factors for learning at work
Opportunity to Learn
Ability to Learn
Willingness to Learn

9. Outline Motivation Conceptual framework: Drivers of learning at work
Data
Correlates of learning at work
Benefits of learning at work
Policy implications

10. PIAAC and STEP – similar but different
Learning at work
Equivalent measure across two data sources: Indicator for learning at work from any source at least once a month
Ability to learn
Direct assessment of literacy on the same proficiency scale for PIAAC and STEP: Attainment of at least Level 2 proficiency to indicate the ability to identify information using simple texts
Willingness to learn
Socioemotional skills only in STEP: Big Five personality traits (Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Emotional stability), grit, decision-making
Opportunity to learn
Three occupational groups: High-skilled white-collar workers, low-skilled white-collar workers, blue-collar workers

11. Outline Motivation Conceptual framework: Drivers of learning at work
Data
Correlates of learning at work
Benefits of learning at work
Policy implications

12. Learning at work is correlated with development…

13. …for all occupation groups
High-skilled white-collar
workers
Low-skilled white-collar
workers
Blue-collar
workers

14. Ability to learn: Basic literacy is important for learning at work…
Notes: i) Data from the STEP Skills Measurement Surveys, and the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC); ii) Individuals that score below level 2 could be able to identify letters or words but are not able to deploy the full set of cognitive strategies required to integrate, evaluate, or interpret information from a variety of text materials and text complexity. It should be noted that quality jobs require individuals with at least a level 2 of literacy skills proficiency

15. ... for all occupation groups
Notes: i) Data from 41 countries using the STEP and PIAAC surveys. Namely: Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Kosovo, Lithuania, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russian Federation, Serbia, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam; ii) Individuals that score below level 2 could be able to identify letters or words but are not able to deploy the full set of cognitive strategies required to integrate, evaluate, or interpret information from a variety of text materials and text complexity. It should be noted that quality jobs require individuals with at least a level 2 of literacy skills proficiency

16. Ability to learn: Basic literacy correlates with learning at work even when many observables are held constant
Notes: (a) We include a sample of adults aged in Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Kosovo, Lithuania, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russian Federation, Serbia, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam; (b) The model includes a set of country dummies, OECD status, age, age squared, gender, levels of education (with lower secondary as a base group); (c) Minimum literacy proficiency is understood as obtaining level 2 or above in the reading assessment administered by STEP and PIAAC. The surveys characterize literacy as representing a range of skills, from the decoding of written words and sentences to the comprehension, interpretation, and evaluation of texts that are of varying complexity and fit workplace, personal, society, and community contexts; (d) * p < 0.1, ** p < 0.05, *** p < 0.01

17. Willingness to learn: Openness to experience and grit correlate strongly with learning at work
Full sample
High-skilled white-collar workers
Low-skilled white-collar workers
Blue-collar workers
One-by-one
All at once
Extraversion
+** +* -*
Conscientiousness
+***
Openness
Emotional Stability
Agreeableness
Grit
Decision-making
Notes: (a) We include a sample of adults aged in Armenia, Bolivia, Colombia, Georgia, Ghana, Kenya, Kosovo, Serbia, Ukraine and Vietnam (b) * p < 0.1, ** p < 0.05, *** p < 0.01; (c) Each regression includes, a set of country dummies, age, age squared, gender, minimum literacy proficiency (Level 2) indicator.

18. Willingness to learn: Openness to experience and grit correlate strongly with learning at work
Full sample
High-skilled white-collar workers
Low-skilled white-collar workers
Blue-collar workers
One-by-one
All at once
Extraversion
+** +* -*
Conscientiousness
+***
Openness
Emotional Stability
Agreeableness
Grit
Decision-making
Notes: (a) We include a sample of adults aged in Armenia, Bolivia, Colombia, Georgia, Ghana, Kenya, Kosovo, Serbia, Ukraine and Vietnam (b) * p < 0.1, ** p < 0.05, *** p < 0.01; (c) Each regression includes, a set of country dummies, age, age squared, gender, minimum literacy proficiency (Level 2) indicator.

19. Outline Motivation Conceptual framework: Drivers of learning at work
Data
Correlates of learning at work
Benefits of learning at work
Policy implications

20. Hypothesis and methodology
Hypothesis: There is an earnings premium for learning at work, and this premium rises with accumulated experience
Methodology: Augmented Mincer regressions, with a focus on wage-experience profile with and without learning at work
Dependent variable: hourly wage and self-employment earnings
Covariates of interest: Learning at work, Experience (potential), interaction of experience and learning at work
Other covariates: gender, years of education, and fixed country effects
Two-step Heckman selection correction using available exclusion restrictions in each dataset
 Analysis conducted for PIAAC and STEP separately

21. Learning at work delivers a significant earnings premium, that rises with experience…
Notes: The figure is based on a two-step Heckman selection model regression of log hourly earnings that also includes gender, years of education, and fixed country effects as covariates. The first stage of the model included gender, years of education, quadratic polynomial of potential experience, fixed country effects, and a set of exclusion restrictions (for PIAAC: employed partner and number of children under 6; for STEP: number of shocks at age 15, socio-economic status at age 15, and household asset index). Kosovo was excluded from the STEP model as a positive outlier on learning premium.

22. … and this does not depend on functional form of experience
Notes: The figure is based on a two-step Heckman selection model regression of log hourly earnings that also includes gender, years of education, and fixed country effects as covariates. The first stage of the model included gender, years of education, nonparametric model of potential experience, fixed country effects, and a set of exclusion restrictions (for PIAAC: employed partner and number of children under 6; for STEP: number of shocks at age 15, socio-economic status at age 15, and household asset index). Kosovo was excluded from the STEP model as a positive outlier on learning premium.

23. For PIAAC countries, learning premium for all occupation groups, but is highest for low-skilled white-collars
Notes: The figure is based on a two-step Heckman selection model regression of log hourly earnings that also includes gender, years of education, and fixed country effects as covariates. The first stage of the model included gender, years of education, quadratic polynomial of potential experience, fixed country effects, and a set of exclusion restrictions (employed partner and number of children under 6).

24. For STEP countries, negative experience premium for low-skilled white-collars, but learning premium for all
Notes: The figure is based on a two-step Heckman selection model regression of log hourly earnings that also includes gender, years of education, and fixed country effects as covariates. The first stage of the model included gender, years of education, quadratic polynomial of potential experience, fixed country effects, and a set of exclusion restrictions (number of shocks at age 15, socio-economic status at age 15, and household asset index). Kosovo was excluded from the STEP model as a positive outlier on learning premium.

25. Socioemotional skills
Learning at work could mediate the relationship between skills and earnings
Cognitive
skills
Learning at work
Socioemotional skills
Technical
skills

26. For STEP countries, learning premium remains even with controls for literacy and socioemotional skills…
Notes: The figure is based on a two-step Heckman selection model regression of log hourly earnings that also gender, minimum literacy proficiency indicator, indicators for above-average values for socioemotional skills (Big 5 personality traits, grit, and decision-making), and fixed country effects as covariates. The first stage of the model included gender, minimum literacy proficiency indicator, indicators for above-average values for socioemotional skills (Big 5 personality traits, grit, and decision-making), quadratic polynomial of potential experience, fixed country effects, and a set of exclusion restrictions (number of shocks at age 15, socio-economic status at age 15, and household asset index). Kosovo was excluded from the model as a positive outlier on learning premium.

27. … with highest impacts for low-skilled white-collars
Notes: The figure is based on a two-step Heckman selection model regression of log hourly earnings that also gender, minimum literacy proficiency indicator, indicators for above-average values for socioemotional skills (Big 5 personality traits, grit, and decision-making), and fixed country effects as covariates. The first stage of the model included gender, minimum literacy proficiency indicator, indicators for above-average values for socioemotional skills (Big 5 personality traits, grit, and decision-making), quadratic polynomial of potential experience, fixed country effects, and a set of exclusion restrictions (number of shocks at age 15, socio-economic status at age 15, and household asset index). Kosovo was excluded from the model as a positive outlier on learning premium.

28. Outline Motivation Conceptual framework: Drivers of learning at work
Data
Correlates of learning at work
Benefits of learning at work
Policy implications

29. Can learning at work be an equalizer?
Does learning at work correlate with other skills, cognitive and socioemotional? YES
Does learning at work pay off? YES

30. Main implications Act earlier and do better
Early childhood development is vital to provide children with adequate cognitive and socioemotional skills and to put them on the right path
Quality of basic schooling and positive learning environment can support development of foundational skills to produce learning-ready labor market entrants
But don’t stop here

31. Formal workplace training incidence is low
Participation in workplace training in the last 12 months, by literacy level (STEP)
Notes: i) Information from the STEP Skills Measurement Surveys, ; ii) Individuals that score below level 2 are able to identify letters or words but are not able to deploy the full set of cognitive strategies required to integrate, evaluate, or interpret information from a variety of text materials and text complexity. It should be noted that quality jobs require individuals with at least a level 2 of literacy skills proficiency.

32. Main implications Act earlier and do better
Early childhood development is vital to provide children with adequate cognitive and socioemotional skills and to put them on the right path
Quality of basic schooling and positive learning environment can support development of foundational skills to produce learning-ready labor market entrants
But don’t stop here
Increase learning at work for ready learners
Stimulate formal workplace training, which appears to be underprovided in most countries
Informal learning at work could also be encouraged through mentorship programs, incentivizing knowledge sharing and keeping up to date, and team rotations

33. Victoria Levin Senior Economist Education Global Practice
Thank you!
Victoria Levin Senior Economist Education Global Practice

34. Annex slides

35. Ability to learn: The net effect of basic literacy is important for all occupation groups; direct effect for low-skilled white-collars

36. Ability to learn: Basic literacy mediates the relationship between education and learning at work
Notes: i) Data from 44 countries using the STEP and PIAAC surveys. Namely: Armenia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Kosovo, Lao PDR, Lithuania, FYR Macedonia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russian Federation, Serbia, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam and Yunnan province in China; ii) Individuals that score below level 2 could be able to identify letters or words but are not able to deploy the full set of cognitive strategies required to integrate, evaluate, or interpret information from a variety of text materials and text complexity. It should be noted that quality jobs require individuals with at least a level 2 of literacy skills proficiency; iii) Number of observations in parenthesis; iv) coefficients obtained after controlling for age, age squared, gender, country and OECD status.