-
Training, Soft Skills and Productivity: Evidence from a Field Experiment
-
This paper examines a training intervention aimed at boosting leadership and communication skills among employees of a large Latin American retailer. The identification exploits an experimental design in the context of a difference-in-difference strategy. Using longitudinal information obtained from the firm and two skills surveys, we document large positive effects of the training on store- and individual- level productivity. The intervention was more effective in boosting leadership than communication skills. Spillovers from trained managers to untrained sales representatives also contribute to the main effects. Our findings confirm the possibility of increasing productivity through training targeting critical soft-skills.
Located in
MPRC People
/
Sergio Urzua, Ph.D.
/
Sergio Urzua Publications
-
Time Use Across the Life Course
-
2018 Conference
Located in
Coming Up
-
Stephen Gilman, NICHD
-
The developmental origins of disparities in common mental disorders
Located in
Coming Up
-
Kirsten Stoebenau, Behavioral & Community Health
-
"Come, we try" - A qualitative study of changing marital practices in low-income settings in Eastern Africa and the implications for maternal and child health
Located in
Coming Up
-
Caryn Bell, African American Studies
-
Structural Racism and Population Health
Located in
Coming Up
-
Punishment and Inequality at an Early Age: Exclusionary Discipline in Elementary School
-
We advance current knowledge of school punishment by examining (1) the prevalence of exclusionary discipline in elementary school, (2) racial disparities in exclusionary discipline in elementary school, and (3) the association between exclusionary discipline and aggressive behavior in elementary school. Using child and parent reports from the Fragile Families Study, we estimate that more than one in ten children born between 1998 and 2000 in large US cities were suspended or expelled by age nine, when most were in third grade. We also find extreme racial disparity; about 40 percent of non-Hispanic black boys were suspended or expelled, compared to 8 percent of non-Hispanic white or other-race boys. Disparities are largely due to differences in children’s school and home environments rather than to behavior problems. Next, consistent with social stress and strain theories, we find suspension or expulsion associated with increased aggressive behavior in elementary school. This association does not vary by race but is robust to a rich set of covariates, within-individual fixed effects, and matching methods. In conjunction with what we find for racial disparities, our results imply that school discipline policies relying heavily on exclusionary punishment may be fostering childhood inequality.
Located in
MPRC People
/
Wade C Jacobsen, Ph.D.
/
Wade Jacobsen Publications
-
India Human Development Survey - Wave Three
-
NICHD-R01 - Dr. Sonalde Desai
Located in
Research
/
Selected Research
-
Turner research featured on Morning Edition
-
College financial aid letters can provide a nudge toward borrowing, or not
Located in
News
-
Seminar: Maria Khan - New York University
-
Effects of Policing and Detainment on Psychosocial Vulnerability and Drug and Sex Risk among Minority Men who have Sex with Men
Located in
Coming Up
-
Seminar: Julia Burdick-Will - Johns Hopkins University
-
Structured Instability: School Mobility in Baltimore City and its Inner Suburb
Located in
Coming Up