Acquisition and Utilisation of Adult Skills – A Network for Analysing, Developing and Disseminating PIAAC
Research Area:
Tasks
PIAAC 2012 (Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies) provides up-to-date information on key adult skills in 24 countries. This data will be used to carry out further research on the acquisition and utilisation of skills. In a first step, the ifo Center for the Economics of Education - in collaboration with other Leibniz institutes (e.g. GESIS) - will evaluate existing skill measures in PIAAC and compare them to other available skill metrics. In addition, alternative benchmarks will be developed and subsequently tested using data from the German longitudinal PIAAC survey. In a second step, the project aims to improve the understanding of the causal effects of skills on labour-market outcomes using improved identification methods. Furthermore, German PIAAC data will be linked to the administrative data of individuals' employment histories. This linking is aimed at improving future waves generations of PIAAC background questionnaires in terms of questions of education and employment histories.
Methods
The scope of the project includes the analysis of skill formation and skill use based on PIAAC 2012 data and its extensions for Germany. These national extensions comprise a longitudinal survey of the years 2014, 2015, 2016, which is linked with administrative labour market data. In addition, the data and findings from this project will be dissemi-nated to the scientific community through data provision, methodological workshops, a PIAAC research conference and scientific publications. Finally, the project results will be communicated to stakeholders from politics and industry in a targeted manner.
Data sources
PIAAC (Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies)
PIAAC-L (additional survey waves for Germany in 2014, 2015 and 2016)
IAB data (IEB-Integrated Employment Biographies, BHP-Establishment History Panel)
Results
The PIACC project has generated important results, especially in three key studies.
One study conducted within this project assesses the employment impact of vocational vs. general education over a person’s lifecycle. Results suggest that an initial employment advantage enjoyed by individuals with a vocational education compared to a general education turns into a disadvantage later in life. This trade-off is strongest in countries like Austria, Denmark and Germany, which are characterized by a strong apprenticeship system.
Another study analyses the reasons for large differences in the return on skills across countries. Results suggest that the return on skills is systematically greater in economies that have grown faster in recent years. These results suggest that the economic significance of education is related to a person’s ability to adapt to changing conditions.
A third study shows that skills imparting a mastery of information and communication technologies lead to higher earnings on the labor market. In order to distinguish cause and effect, a microeconometric method exploits the need for fast internet access for the purpose of regularly using these skills.
Publications
Hampf, Franziska, Simon Wiederhold and Ludger Wößmann, "Skills, earnings, and employment: exploring causality in the estimation of returns to skills", Large Scale Assessments in Education 5 (12), 2017, 01–30
Hampf, Franziska and Ludger Wößmann, "Vocational vs. General Education and Employment over the Life-Cycle: New Evidence from PIAAC", CESifo Working Paper No. 6116, October 2016 | PDF Download
Hanushek, Eric A., Guido Schwerdt, Simon Wiederhold and Ludger Woessmann, "Coping with Change: International Differences in the Returns to Skills", CESifo Working Paper No. 6114, September 2016, Also published as: NBER Working Paper 22657, Information | PDF Download
Hanushek, Eric A., Guido Schwerdt, Simon Wiederhold and Ludger Wößmann, "Returns to Skills around the World: Evidence from PIAAC", European Economic Review 73 (C), 2015, 103–130, PDF Download