IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/glodps/1532.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The (in)stability of locus of control: New insights from distributional effects of major life events

Author

Listed:
  • Ha Trong Nguyen
  • Schurer, Stefanie
  • Mitrou, Francis

Abstract

Earlier empirical evidence indicates that locus on control (LoC), a non-cognitive skill reflecting an individual's belief that life's outcomes result from their own efforts, is relatively unresponsive to major life events. This study re-examines this evidence by utilizing a longer panel dataset and employing more robust econometric models. Results from an individual fixed effects model reveal that a substantial proportion of major life events exert a statistically significant influence on LoC. Additionally, individual fixed effects quantile regressions show that the effects of many life events are more pronounced for individuals at the lower end of the internal LoC distribution. The analysis also uncovers heterogeneity in the effects of life events across gender and age groups, with certain events exhibiting persistent, albeit short-term, impacts on LoC. Furthermore, we find that the effects of major life events on LoC are not only statistically significant but also economically meaningful.

Suggested Citation

  • Ha Trong Nguyen & Schurer, Stefanie & Mitrou, Francis, 2024. "The (in)stability of locus of control: New insights from distributional effects of major life events," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1532, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:1532
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/307107/1/GLO-DP-1532.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Heckman, James J. & Kautz, Tim, 2012. "Hard evidence on soft skills," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 451-464.
    2. Preuss, Malte & Hennecke, Juliane, 2018. "Biased by success and failure: How unemployment shapes locus of control," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 63-74.
    3. Andrew E Clark & Rong Zhu, 2024. "Taking Back Control? Quasi-Experimental Evidence on the Impact of Retirement on Locus of Control," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(660), pages 1465-1493.
    4. Sergio Firpo & Nicole M. Fortin & Thomas Lemieux, 2009. "Unconditional Quantile Regressions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(3), pages 953-973, May.
    5. Xue, Sen & Kidd, Michael P. & Le, Anh.T. & Kirk, Kathy & Martin, Nicholas G., 2020. "The role of locus of control in adulthood outcomes: Evidence from Australian twins," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 566-588.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andrew E Clark & Rong Zhu, 2024. "Taking Back Control? Quasi-Experimental Evidence on the Impact of Retirement on Locus of Control," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(660), pages 1465-1493.
    2. Marta Palczynska, 2018. "Wage premia for skills: The complementarity of cognitive and non-cognitive skills," IBS Working Papers 09/2018, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych.
    3. Schlosser, Analia & Shanan, Yannay, 2022. "Fostering Soft Skills in Active Labor Market Programs: Evidence from a Large-Scale RCT," IZA Discussion Papers 15104, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. David Deming & Lisa B. Kahn, 2018. "Skill Requirements across Firms and Labor Markets: Evidence from Job Postings for Professionals," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(S1), pages 337-369.
    5. Atkins, Rose & Turner, Alex James & Chandola, Tarani & Sutton, Matt, 2020. "Going beyond the mean in examining relationships of adolescent non-cognitive skills with health-related quality of life and biomarkers in later-life," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    6. Antoine Marsaudon, 2022. "Do Hospital Stays Modify Locus of Control?," De Economist, Springer, vol. 170(2), pages 257-277, May.
    7. Szabó-Morvai, Ágnes & Kiss, Hubert János & Károlyi, Róbert, 2023. "Kontrollhely Magyarországon - egy reprezentatív felmérés eredményei [Locus of Control in Hungary: The results of a representative survey]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(7), pages 847-871.
    8. Matthias Collischon, 2020. "The Returns to Personality Traits Across the Wage Distribution," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 34(1), pages 48-79, March.
    9. Pons Rotger, Gabriel & Rosholm, Michael, 2020. "The Role of Beliefs in Long Sickness Absence: Experimental Evidence from a Psychological Intervention," IZA Discussion Papers 13582, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Hendrik Thiel & Stephan L. Thomsen & Bettina Büttner, 2014. "Variation of learning intensity in late adolescence and the effect on personality traits," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 177(4), pages 861-892, October.
    11. Juliane Hennecke, 2024. "The independent woman—locus of control and female labor force participation," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 329-357, March.
    12. Korom, Philipp, 2016. "Inherited advantage: The importance of inheritance for private wealth accumulation in Europe," MPIfG Discussion Paper 16/11, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    13. Joanna Tyrowicz & Lucas van der Velde, 2017. "When the opportunity knocks: large structural shocks and gender wage gaps," GRAPE Working Papers 2, GRAPE Group for Research in Applied Economics.
    14. Michele Raitano & Francesco Vona & Claudia Vittori, 2015. "The effect of parental background along the son's earnings distribution : does one model fit for all?," Working Papers hal-03459749, HAL.
    15. Lea Cassar & Mira Fischer & Vanessa Valero, 2022. "Keep Calm and Carry On: Immediate-vs. Six-Month Effects of Mindfulness Training on Academic Performance," CESifo Working Paper Series 10099, CESifo.
    16. Huong Thu Le & Ha Trong Nguyen, 2018. "The evolution of the gender test score gap through seventh grade: new insights from Australia using unconditional quantile regression and decomposition," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-42, December.
    17. Holmes, Craig & Mayhew, Ken, 2015. "Have UK Earnings Distributions Polarised?," INET Oxford Working Papers 2015-02, Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.
    18. Francis,David C. & Kubinec ,Robert, 2022. "Beyond Political Connections : A Measurement Model Approach to Estimating Firm-levelPolitical Influence in 41 Economies," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10119, The World Bank.
    19. Xiaoying Liu & Jere R. Behrman & Emily Hannum & Fan Wang & Qingguo Zhao, 2022. "Same environment, stratified impacts? Air pollution, extreme temperatures, and birth weight in south China," Papers 2204.00219, arXiv.org.
    20. Katie Meara & Francesco Pastore & Allan Webster, 2020. "The gender pay gap in the USA: a matching study," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(1), pages 271-305, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Locus of Control; Unconditional Quantile; Australia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:1532. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/glabode.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.