Investing in Our Young People

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Flavio Cunha, James J. Heckman NBER Working Paper No. 16201 Issued in July 2010 NBER Program(s): CH ED This paper reviews the recent literature on the production of skills of young persons. The literature features the multiplicity of skills that explain success in a variety of life outcomes. Noncognitive skills play a fundamental role in successful lives. The dynamics of skill formation reveal the interplay of cognitive and noncognitive skills, and the presence of critical and sensitive periods in the life-cycle. We discuss the optimal timing of investment over the life-cycle. This paper is available as PDF (749 K) or via email. Machine-readable bibliographic record - MARC, RIS, BibTeX