SOFT SKILLS AND EARNINGS: EVIDENCE FROM A NATIONWIDE SURVEY IN POLAND

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine differences in earnings in Poland with respect to the level of soft skills. The study is based on data from a nationwide survey on human capital conducted in 2014. Eight types of soft skills are considered: entrepreneurship and initiative, resistance to stress, cooperation in a group, communicativeness, ability to resolve conflicts, coordination of the work of other employees, creativity, and continuous learning. Distributions of earnings corresponding to groups of individuals declaring low, medium, and high levels of soft skills are compared using statistical methods, namely kernel estimation, one-way ANOVA on ranks, and relative distributions. The analysis leads to the conclusion that earnings distributions vary substantially with respect to the level of soft skills. The largest differences are observed for skills such as entrepreneurship and initiative, coordination of the work of other employees, and creativity. This paper contributes to the literature on the relationship between the level of soft skills and earnings.

Data:
Received: 6 Apr 2020
Revised: 21 May 2020
Accepted: 6 Jun 2020
Published: 20 Jun 2020