Can Competitiveness Predict Education and Labor Market Outcomes? Evidence from Incentivized Choice and Survey Measures

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Buser, Thomas; Niederle, Muriel; Oosterbeek, Hessel
• 署名单位: University of Amsterdam; Tinbergen Institute; Stanford University; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_01439
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: gender-differences; personality; preferences; PSYCHOLOGY; need; gap; intelligence; orientation; ECONOMICS; cognition

摘要

We assess the predictive power of two measures of competitiveness for education and labor market outcomes using a large, representative survey panel. The first is incentivized and is an online adaptation of the laboratory-based Niederle-Vesterlund measure. The second is an unincentivized survey question eliciting general competitiveness. Both measures are strong predictors of income, occupation, level of education, and field of study. The predictive power of the new unincentivized measure is robust to controlling for other traits, including risk attitudes, confidence, and the Big Five personality traits. For most outcomes, the predictive power of competitiveness exceeds that of the other traits.