Measuring Skills in Developing Countries

Laajaj, Rachid ; Macours, Karen

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: skills;    agricultural productivity;    measurement;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-8000
RP-ID  :  WPS8000

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Measures of cognitive, noncognitive, andtechnical skills are increasingly used in developmenteconomics to analyze the determinants of skill formation,the role of skills in economic decisions, or simply becausethey are potential confounders. Yet in most cases, thesemeasures have only been validated in high-income countries.This paper tests the reliability and validity of some of themost commonly used skills measures in a rural developingcontext. A survey with a series of skills measurements wasadministered to more than 900 farmers in western Kenya, andthe same questions were asked again after three weeks totest the reliability of the measures. To test predictivepower, the study also collected information on agriculturalpractices and production during the four following seasons.The results show the cognitive skills measures are reliableand internally consistent, while technical skills aredifficult to capture and very noisy. The evidence furthersuggests that measurement error in noncognitive skills isnon-classical, as correlations between questions are drivenin part by the answering patterns of the respondents and thephrasing of the questions. Addressing both random andsystematic measurement error using common psychometricpractices and repeated measures leads to improvements andclearer predictions, but does not address all concerns. Thepaper provides a cautionary tale for naïve interpretationsof skill measures. It also points to the importance ofaddressing measurement challenges to establish therelationship of different skills with economic outcomes.Based on these findings, the paper derives guidelines forskill measurement and interpretation in similar contexts.