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Interpreting the Evidence on Life Cycle Skill Formation (2005)
| Citations: | 275 - 39 self |
BibTeX
@MISC{Cunha05interpretingthe,
author = {Flavio Cunha and James J. Heckman and Lance Lochner and Dimitriy V. Masterov},
title = {Interpreting the Evidence on Life Cycle Skill Formation },
year = {2005}
}
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Abstract
This paper develops new economic models to synthesize and interpret the empirical literature on human skill formation. It presents simple formal economic models of child development that capture the essence of recent findings from the empirical literature. The goal of this essay is to provide a theoretical framework for interpreting the evidence from a vast empirical literature, for guiding the next generation of empirical studies, and for formulating policy. Central to our analysis is the concept that childhood has more than one stage, and that policies need to be tailored to each one. We formalize the concepts of self productivity and complementarity of human capital investments and use them to explain the evidence on skill formation. Together, they explain why skill begets skill through a skill multiplier process. Skill formation is a lifecycle process. It starts in the womb and goes on throughout most of the adult life. Families play a
Keyphrases
life cycle skill formation empirical literature skill formation human skill formation lifecycle process self productivity next generation recent finding formulating policy simple formal economic model child development theoretical framework new economic model skill begets human capital investment empirical study vast empirical literature adult life
