The Role of Cognitive and Noncognitive Skills in Selecting into Migration
We assess the importance of cognitive and noncognitive (soft) skills on geographic migrating using data that combine military enlistment information and administrative data for the male population born in 1932 and 1933 in Norway. The data measure 'sociability' and 'adaptability' skills based on detailed interviews with a psychologist at age 18. We find that adaptability has a significant and positive impact on the probability of moving out of one's local labor market or from rural to urban areas. High cognitive ability is also associated with a higher propensity to migrate. We find that adaptability has a particularly strong impact on migration for individuals with low cognitive skills implying a very strong positive selection of low skilled with respect to the (previously unobserved) adaptability skill. We also present evidence that adaptability has no significant effect on the earnings premium of those who migrate, while cognitive skills have a strong positive effect on earnings returns to migration. This evidence is consistent with adaptability skills mainly reducing the non monetary migration costs, while cognitive skill mainly increase the earnings returns to migration.