Discussion paper

DP17968 Noncognitive Skills at the Time of COVID-19: An Experiment with Professional Traders and Students

We study the stability of noncognitive skills by comparing experimental results gathered before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a sample of professional traders, we find a significant decrease in Agreeableness and Locus of Control and a moderate decrease in Grit. These patterns are primarily driven by those with more negative experiences of the pandemic. Other skills, such as Trust, Conscientiousness, and Self-Monitoring, are unchanged. We contrast these results with those from a sample of undergraduate students whose noncognitive skills remain constant (except Conscientiousness). Our findings provide evidence against the stability of noncognitive skills, particularly among professional traders.

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Citation

Angrisani, M, M Cipriani, A Guarino, R Kendall and J Ortiz de Zarate Pina (eds) (2023), “DP17968 Noncognitive Skills at the Time of COVID-19: An Experiment with Professional Traders and Students”, CEPR Press Discussion Paper No. 17968. https://cepr.org/publications/dp17968