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Title: Measuring the Effects of Cognitive Ability
Resulting in 1 citation.
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Cawley, John Conneely, Karen Heckman, James J. Vytlacil, Edward |
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Measuring the Effects of Cognitive Ability NBER Working Paper No. 5645, National Bureau of Economic Research, July 1996. Also: http://nber.nber.org/papers/W5645 Cohort(s): NLSY79 Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Keyword(s): Armed Forces Qualifications Test (AFQT); Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB); Cognitive Ability; Demography; Gender Differences; Intelligence; Occupational Choice; Racial Differences; Test Scores/Test theory/IRT; Wage Differentials; Wage Rates This paper presents new evidence from the NLSY on the importance of meritocracy in American society. In it, we find that general intelligence, or "g"--a measure of cognitive ability--is dominant in explaining test score variance. The weights assigned to tests by "g" are similar for all major demographic groups. These results support Spearman's theory of "g." We also find that "g" and other measures of ability are not rewarded equally across race and gender, evidence against the view that the labor market is organized on meritocratic principles. Additional factors beyond "g" are required to explain wages and occupational choice. However, both blue collar and white collar wages are poorly predicted by "g" or even multiple measures of ability. Observed cognitive ability is only a minor predictor of social performance. White collar wages are more "g" loaded than blue collar wages. Many noncognitive factors determine blue collar wages. Full-text available on-line: http://nber.nber.org/papers/W5645. See also, "Cognitive Ability, Wages, and Meritocracy" published in: Intelligence, Genes, and Success. Devlin, Bernie etal. ed. |
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Bibliography Citation
Cawley, John, Karen Conneely, James J. Heckman and Edward Vytlacil. "Measuring the Effects of Cognitive Ability." NBER Working Paper No. 5645, National Bureau of Economic Research, July 1996. |