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PolicyResearchWorkingPaper10378

ConscientiousnessandLaborMarketReturnsEvidencefromaFieldExperimentinWestAfrica

MathiasAllemand

MartinaKirchberger

SvetaMilusheva

CarolNewman

BrentRoberts

VincentThorne

DevelopmentEconomics

DevelopmentImpactEvaluationGroup

March2023

ProducedbytheResearchSupportTeam

PolicyResearchWorkingPaper10378

Abstract

interventiondesignedtoaffectconscientiousness-relatedskills.Thefindingsshowthattreatedworkersweresignifi-cantlymorelikelytostayintheirjobandhavehigherwagesninemonthsaftertheintervention.Thefindingssuggestthatnon-cognitiveskillscanbeaffectedevenlaterinthelifecycleandcanhavesubstantiallabormarketreturns.

Non-cognitiveskillsareincreasinglyrecognizedasimport-

antdeterminantsoflabormarketoutcomes.Towhatextent

specificskillscanbeaffectedinadulthoodremainsanopen

question.Thisstudyconductedarandomizedcontrolled

trialwithlow-skilledemployedworkersinSenegal,where

workerswererandomlyassignedtoreceiveatraining

ThispaperisaproductoftheDevelopmentImpactEvaluationGroup,DevelopmentEconomics.ItispartofalargereffortbytheWorldBanktoprovideopenaccesstoitsresearchandmakeacontributiontodevelopmentpolicydiscussionsaroundtheworld.PolicyResearchWorkingPapersarealsopostedontheWebat/prwp.Theauthorsmaybecontactedatsmilusheva@orMartina.Kirchberger@tcd.ie.

ThePolicyResearchWorkingPaperSeriesdisseminatesthefindingsofworkinprogresstoencouragetheexchangeofideasaboutdevelopmentissues.Anobjectiveoftheseriesistogetthefindingsoutquickly,evenifthepresentationsarelessthanfullypolished.Thepaperscarrythenamesoftheauthorsandshouldbecitedaccordingly.Thefindings,interpretations,andconclusionsexpressedinthispaperareentirelythoseoftheauthors.TheydonotnecessarilyrepresenttheviewsoftheInternationalBankforReconstructionandDevelopment/WorldBankanditsaffiliatedorganizations,orthoseoftheExecutiveDirectorsoftheWorldBankorthegovernmentstheyrepresent.

ConscientiousnessandLaborMarketReturns:EvidencefromaFieldExperimentinWestAfrica

MathiasALLEMAND1

UniversityofZurich

MartinaKIRCHBERGER2,×

TrinityCollegeDublinandCEPR

SvetaMILUSHEVA3

TheWorldBank

CarolNEWMAN2,×

TrinityCollegeDublin

BrentROBERTS4

UniversityofIllinoisatUrbana-Champaign

VincentTHORNE2

TrinityCollegeDublin

Keywords:non-cognitiveskills,labormarkets,conscientiousness.

JELClassification:J24,M53,O15.

Weareextremelygratefulforthetirelesseffortsofthe?eldteam,whichincludedMameDiarraBoussoSarr,MarionSagotandPaolaElice.ManythankstoAramGassama,MeyharMohammed,MarineNellyCecileColondeFranciosiandMeriemFouadforexcellentresearchsupportandassistance.WearegratefultoCETUDandAPIXfortheirsupportincoordinatingandimplementingthiswork.WeareindebtedtoEtienneThibault,MoustaphaGueye,BirameOlivierSarr,AhousenySawadogo,NiangDiallo,GislerIsidoreMandiamyandtheirteamsatEiffageRailSenegal(GroupementEiffageCSEYapiMerkezi).ForhelpfulcommentswethankAchyutaAdhvaryuandChrisWoodruffaswellasparticipantsatthe2021JobsandDevelopmentConferenceandTrinityCollegeDublin.Wegratefullyacknowledge?nancialsupportfromRSBandfromtheieConnectforImpactprogram,whichisfundedbytheUnitedKingdom’sForeign,Commonwealth&DevelopmentOf?ce.Computationalreproducibilityveri?edbyDIMEAnalytics.The?ndings,interpretations,andconclusionsexpressedinthispaperareentirelythoseoftheauthors.TheydonotnecessarilyrepresenttheviewsoftheWorldBankanditsaf?liatedorganizations,orthoseoftheExecutiveDirectorsoftheWorldBankorthegovernmentstheyrepresent.Allpotentialerrorsareourown.Thelistofauthorsisinalphabeticalorder.ThetrialwasregisteredontheAEARCTregistry(AEARCTR-0004043Version2.0).

1DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofZurich.

2DepartmentofEconomics,TrinityCollegeDublin.

3DevelopmentImpactEvaluationDepartment,TheWorldBank.

4DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofIllinoisatUrbana-Champaign.×Correspondingauthors:

martina.kirchberger@tcd.ie

,

cnewman@tcd.ie

.

2

1.Introduction

AlargebodyofevidencehighlightsalinkbetweentheBigFivepersonalitytraits(agree-ableness,conscientiousness,extroversion,neuroticismandopenness)andoutcomesintheworkplace(

Robertsetal.

,

2007

;

Soto

,

2019

;

Borghansetal

.,

2008

;

Bowlesetal.

,

2001

;

Fletcher

,

2013

;

NyhusandPons

,

2005

).

1

Onesuchtrait,conscientiousness,whichrelatestobeingpunctual,hardworkingandresponsible,emergesasakeytraitforsuccessfullabormarketoutcomes,suchasjobperformanceandproductivity(

Barricketal.

,

2001

;

Cubel

etal.

,

2016

;

Dudleyetal.

,

2006

).

2

IthaslongbeenthoughtthattheBigFivepersonalitytraitsareimmutableinadulthoodandnotamenabletointerventionefforts.However,recenttheoriesinpsychologyproposethatmindfulnessandbehavioralchangetechniquescanhelptoshiftbeliefsandbehaviorsandmodifyskillstoincreasetraitssuchasconscientiousness.

Thiscanbeachievedbycreatingawarenessaboutpersonalityanditsimportanceandbyteachingbehaviorchangeskills(

AllemandandFlückiger

,

2017

;

Robertsetal.

,

2017a

).

3

Towhatextentinterventionsthattargetspeci?ctraitscanbeeffectiveinimprovinglabormarketoutcomesremainsanopenquestion.Between230millionand450millionnewworkersareexpectedtoenterthelaborforceinAfricaby2030(

WorldEconomicForum,

WorldBankandAfricanDevelopmentBank

,

2017

;

WorldEconomicForum

,

2017

).Thisplacesconsiderablepressureonyoungpeopleto?ndandmaintainjobs,particularlyinthepresenceofsubstantialsearchandmatchingfrictionsandhighratesofturnoverdocumentedinlow-incomecountries(

Abebeetal.

,

2021

,

2020

;

BanerjeeandSequeira

,

2020

;

Donovan

etal.

,

2021

).

McKenzie

(

2021

)highlightsthepotentialfornon-traditionaltrainingincorpo-ratingpsychologyandfocusingonessentialnon-cognitiveskillstoimprovelabormarketoutcomes.Anumberofrecentstudieshavedemonstratedpositiveimpactsofcomprehensiveskillstrainingprograms,forexample,onproductivity(

Adhvaryuetal

.,

forthcoming

)orearnings(

Chiodaetal.

,

2021

).Soft-skillstrainingprogramscouldbeimportantforjobsthatrequireminimalskillsbutahighlevelofconscientiousness.

Thispaperexaminestheimpactofatargetedconscientiousnesstraininginterventionforlow-skilledworkersonemployment,wagesandjobretention.Todothis,wecombinemethodsandinsightsfrombotheconomicsandpsychology.Thetrainingprogramisbasedonarecentconceptualinterventionmodel,theSociogenomicTraitInterventionModel

1Inthesestudies,theBigFivepersonalitytraitshavebeenfoundtobepredictorsofincome,long-termunemployment,jobstability,jobperformance,jobsatisfaction,extrinsicandintrinsiccareersuccessand?nancialsecurity.

2Conscientiousnessisaspectrumofconstructsdescribingindividualdifferencesinthepropensitytobeself-controlled,responsibletoothers,hardworking,orderly,andruleabiding(

Robertsetal.

2009

;

Roberts

etal.

2014

).Itincludesinter-relatedfacetssuchasindustriousness,organization,self-control,responsibility,persistence,decisiveness,conventionality,andpunctuality.

3Forexample,initialevidencefromhigh-incomecontextsshowsthatpsychologicalinterventionsusingsmartphoneappscanhelppeopletochangepersonalitytraitsindesireddirectionsinadulthood(

Stiegeretal

.,

2020

,

2021

).

3

(STIM)by

Robertsetal.

(

2017a

),andarecentinterventionprogramdevelopedby

Stieger

etal.

(

2020

)forSwissparticipants,whichweadaptedtoourparticularcontext.Oursampleconsistsof386workersemployedatbaselineintheconstructionofanewexpresstraininDakar,Senegal.Thetrainingconsistedofaninitialtwo-hourin-personsession,conductedoncompanypremisesduringworkhoursbyatrainedprofessional,externaltothecompany,onhowtobemoreconscientiousatwork,followedbyaseriesofweeklyshortphonecallstoworkersovereightweeksremindingthemofdifferentwaystobehavemoreconscientiouslyatwork.Workerswererandomlyassignedtothetreatmentandcontrolgroups.Thecontrolgroupdidnotreceiveanyadditionaltrainingbeyondthestandardtrainingprotocolsimplementedbythecompanywhennewworkerstakeupemploymentandperiodicallythroughoutthedurationoftheircontract.

Theframeworkfortheinterventionbuildsontheassumptionthatatraitlikeconscientious-nessisasystemofcontinuousandvaryingtrait-relatedbehaviorsandexperiencesthatcanbemanifestasaskill(i.e.,themomentary,optimalexpressionofatrait).Hence,themainaimoftheinterventionistohelppeoplechangethebehaviorsandexperiencesassociatedwithadomainofconscientiousnessinawaythatensuresthatthechangeisenduring.Thiscouldbebyshowingcertainconscientiousness-relatedbehaviorsandexperiencesmorefrequentlyormoreintensively(forexample,tryingtobecomemorepunctualatwork).Toachievethis,theSTIMusesbehavioralactivationtheory,aformofcognitivebehaviortherapyusedtotreatde-pression(

Lejuezetal.

,

2001

;

Magidsonetal.

,

2014

).

4

Theinterventionaimstomotivateandtoactivatetheparticipantsbychangingandpromotingconscientiousness-relatedbehaviorsandexperiences.Wetargetfourimportantskill-basedfacetsofconscientiousnessthatarespeci?callyimportantinthecontextofwork:industriousness,punctuality,responsibilityandorderliness(

Robertsetal.

,

2014

).Changesintheseskillsmayhavepositiveeffectsonlabormarketoutcomes.Ifparticipantsdemonstratemoreconscientiousness-relatedbehaviorsandexperiences,suchaspunctuality,responsibility,ororderliness,inaworkcontext,andthisbehaviorisobservedandvaluedbytheirsupervisors,theyaremorelikelytoberetainedintheirpostsandseetheirimprovedperformancere?ectedinhigherwages.

5

We?ndthatreceivingconscientiousnessskillstrainingincreasesjobretentionandwagesninemonthsaftertheendoftheintervention.Workersinthetreatmentgroupwere10%morelikelytoremainemployedbytheconstructioncompanyandtheirlastreportedmonthlyearningswereabout40USDhigherthanthoseofthecontrolgroup(a20%increasefromaveragebaselineearnings).Weinterprettheselabormarketimpactsas“hard”evidencethat

4Behavioralactivationtotreatdepressionisamethodtore-motivateandreactivatedepressedpatients.Theconditionsandconsequencesthattriggerandmaintainthedepressivebehaviormustbeidenti?edandchanged.Depressivebehaviorisreplacedstep-by-stepwithpotentiallyrewardingactivities.

5Overthelonger-term,thepositivereinforcementthatconscientiousness-relatedbehaviorsbyworkersarerewardedbysupervisorscouldinturnencouragefurtherconscientiousbehaviorleadingtoapositivecyclethatcouldleadtolonger-termpositiveeffectssuchasin?uencingwhethersomeoneispromotedor?ndsalternativeemployment.

4

ourtraininghadanimpact.Examiningshiftsinself-reportedmeasuresofconscientiousness-relatedskills,we?ndrespondentsaremorelikelyto?nditeasierto“worktowardsreachingone’sgoals”,to“l(fā)iveuptoyourresponsibilities”,to“focusonone’smostimportantgoals”andto“ful?llone’sdutiesandobligations”.Wetreattheseresultsassuggestiveevidencethatthetrainingaffectedconscientiousness-relatedskills;thereliabilityofourscalesofself-reportedmeasures,whileacceptablebyconventionalstandards,islowduetohighaveragereportedresponsescoresand/orotherresponsebiases.Ourstudythereforealsohighlightsthedif?cultyofusingstandardquestionstocaptureessentialskillsacrossverydifferentcontexts.

Thepapercontributestothreestrandsoftheliterature.First,ourpapercontributestoarecentliteratureontheeffectsofvarioussoft-skillstrainingprogramsonlabormarketoutcomesthat?ndssubstantialeffectsonindividuals’abilitytomaintainajob(

Barrera-Osorio

etal.

,

2021

),returnstothe?rmwithnoeffectonwages(

Adhvaryuetal

.,

forthcoming

),effectsonbothindividualearningsand?rmpro?ts(

Chiodaetal.

,

2021

),positiveeffectson?rmpro?ts(

Camposetal

.,

2017

)orpositiveeffectsonlyforwomen(

Acevedoetal.

,

2020

).

Grohetal.

(

2016

),ontheotherhand,donot?ndeffectsonhoursworked,incomeoremployment.

6

Theseprogramstypicallytrainworkersonacombinationofskills,suchascommunication,writing,timemanagement,negotiation,andemotionalregulation.Weaddtothisliteraturebyprovidingevidenceontheeffectivenessoftargetingoneofthekeytraitsforlabormarketoutcomes(conscientiousness).

7

Arecentpaperby

Bryanetal.

(

2021

)foundthatatheologyeducationprogramwhichpromotedevangelicalProtestantChristianvalueshadapositiveimpactonincomethatappearstobeduetoincreasedgrit,whichcanbeconsideredonefacetofconscientiousness.Ourexperimentisthe?rst,toourknowledge,totargetdifferentfacetsofconscientiousnessandfocusesontheimpactonlabormarketoutcomes.

Second,wecontributetoarecentliteraturethatpointsoutdistinctivefeaturesoflabormarketsinlow-incomecountries,suchasthehighprevalenceofnon-salariedwork(

Bandiera

etal.

,

2022

),signi?cantsearchandmatchingfrictions(

Abebeetal.

,

2021

,

2020

;

Banerjee

andSequeira

,

2020

)orthehighturnoverforlow-earningsjobs(

Donovanetal.

,

2021

).Ourevidencesuggeststhatimprovingconscientiousnessmightplayanimportantroleinincreasingjobtenure.

Third,wecontributetoanongoingdebateaboutwhetherparticulartraitscanbechangedinadulthoodandanswerthisquestioninthecontextoflow-skilledworkersinalow-incomecountry(

AllemandandFlückiger

,

2017

;

Robertsetal.

,

2017a

).Mostofthecurrentevidence

6

Aghionetal.

(

2019

)furtherhighlighttheroleofcomplementaritiesbetweensoftskillsoflow-skilledworkersanda?rm’sotherassets.

7Wealsorelatetoalargeliteratureontheeffectivenessofworkertrainingprograms.Forexamplesandoverviews,see

McKenzie

(

2017

),

McKenzie

(

2021

),

Alfonsietal.

(

2020

),

Cardetal.

(

2011

)or

Attanasioetal.

(

2011

).

5

stemsfromresearchinhigh-incomecountrieswithhigh-skilledsamples(

Stiegeretal

.,

2020

,

2021

).Ourexperimentallowsustoexaminewhetherconscientiousness-relatedskillscanbeactivatedinthisparticularsettingusingasimpleandlow-thresholdinterventionandalsoallowsustotestthereliabilityofpsychologicalinterventionsinvastlydifferentcontextsfromwhichtheywereoriginallydesigned.

Therestofthepaperisorganizedasfollows.InSection

2

wepresentthesettingforourstudy,anddescribetheexperimentandthedata.Section

3

presentstheresultsanddiscussespossiblemechanismsandpotentialcaveatstothestudy.Section

4

concludes.

2.Settingand?eldexperiment

Settingandbackground

ThestudytookplacefromApril2019toMay2020.ThesettingforourexperimentwasDakar,Senegal.Dakar’sworkforceis,onaverage,aged30yearsold,49%haveattendedmiddleschool,and72%areemployedinlow-skilledoccupationsorareself-employed(

Agence

NationaledelaStatistiqueetdelaDémographieSénégalandICF

,

2020

).Weworkedwithacompanythatformspartofajointventureinvolvedintheconstructionofanew36kmlongrailwayexpresstrainconnectingthecitycenterofDakarwithDiamniadio,anewcityestablishedoutsideDakar,andinasecondphasewiththenewinternationalairport.Theexpresstrainisoneofthe?agshipprojectsofthegovernment’s?ve-yearstrategicplanwhich

highlightedtheneedforimprovingtransportintheGreaterDakarArea.The?rstphaseofconstructionstartedin2017andwascompletedin2020.

Fieldexperiment

WorkersemployedatthecompanyresponsiblefortheconstructionofthenewexpresstraininDakarwererecruitedforthestudy.Havingasampleofworkersemployedbythesamecompanyallowsustoholdunobservabledeterminantsofconscientiousnessconstant,suchashowmotivatingsupervisorsare,companyworkatmospheresandmanagementstyles.Toselectoursample,thecompanyprovideduswithalistofworkersinlow-skilledpositionsthatwereworkingondifferentportionsofthetracksoftheexpresstrain.Therewereatotalof386workersontheselists,whichformedoursample.Almosttwo-thirdsofthesampleweremanualworkers,barrierworkers,andsecurityagents.Theremainderwereothertypesofworkersontheconstructionsitethatwereclassi?edbythecompanyashavingalowlevelofquali?cations.

Followingrecruitmenttothestudy,weadministeredabaselinesurveyinApril2019tocollectinformationonworkercharacteristicsandpersonalitytraits.Afterthebaseline,halfoftheworkerswererandomlyselectedtoreceivethebehavioralactivationintervention

focusedonconscientiousness.Allworkersselectedfortheinterventiontookpart.

8

Theinterventionaimsto:(a)presentinformationabouttheimportanceandbene?tsofthefourimportantaspectsofconscientiousnessatwork;(b)increasethemotivationtochangeconscientiousnessstates;(c)provideinstructionstoactivateconscientiousnessstates;and(d)promptbehavioralpracticeusingreminderstoactivatetheconscientiousnessstates.

9

Theinterventionconsistedoftwocomponents.The?rstcomponentwasagrouptrainingsessionwithanaverageof24participantsthatlasted2hours,foreightgroupsintotal.Thelengthofthesessionandthenumberofparticipantsweresimilartoothertrainingsessionsthatworkersreceivedonsafetyandsecurity.ThesessionwashostedbyaprofessionalconsultantwithexperiencedeliveringtrainingofthiskindinSenegal.

10

Thetrainingwasconductedinthelocallanguage,Wolof,toensurethatworkersfullyunderstoodallofthematerial.Duringthesession,thetrainerexplaineddifferentconceptsregardingnon-cognitiveskillstoworkersinthetreatmentgroup,inparticularconscientiousness,withanemphasisonhowimprovementsinsuchskillscanleadtolong-termbene?tsfortheworker.Thecontrolgroupdidnotreceiveanyadditionaltrainingbeyondthestandardtrainingprovidedbythecompanytoallworkers,whichincludesaninitialsecuritytrainingatthestartofthecontractandperiodicsessionsthroughoutthedurationoftheproject.

Thesecondcomponentconsistedofweeklyremindersforeightweeksviashortphonecalls(lessthan1minute)toactivatenon-cognitiveskillschange.Callsweremadebyasurveycompany.Reminderswererandomizedacrossweeksandallworkersreceivedthesamesetofreminderseachweek.Duringeachcall,workersweregivenpersonalskillsreminders,suchas,“Makesurenottoleaveyourplaceofworkatanytimewithoutreplacement”,thattargetconscientiousness.PhonecallswerealsoconductedinWolof.

Amid-linesurveywasconductedinJanuary2020,andanend-linesurveywasconductedbyphoneinMay2020.Oursamplestartedwiththe386individualsinterviewedatbaseline.Atmid-line,344answeredoursurvey(10.9%attrition),whileatend-linewewereabletoreach371respondents(3.1%attrition).

11

Despitethefactthatthislighttouchinterventionhasarelativelylow“dose”,itisexpectedthattherepeatedremindersfunctionastriggersthatinitiatetheconscientiousnessstatesinthedailylifeoftheworkersandinstigatechangeprocesses.Skillchangecanbebestelicitedthroughrepeatingbehaviorsthatdifferfromtypical,trait-likebehavior(

Allemand

8Itispossiblethattherewerespill-overeffectsbetweenthetreatmentandcontrolgroups(giventhat

workerswereassignedtodifferentlocationsontheconstructionsitedependingonthecompany’sneeds).This,

however,wouldbiastheresultsagainst?ndinganeffect.

9FulldetailsofthecontentofthetrainingsessionareprovidedinAppendixA.

10TheconsultanthaspreviouslyledseveraltrainingprogramsinSenegalinpersonaldevelopment,con?ict

management,judicialdefenseandyouthsupport.

11AppendixTableB.1comparesbaselinecharacteristicsofattritionandnon-attritiongroups.Wedonot?nd

anysystematicdifferencesbetweenthesegroupsaftercontrollingformultiplehypothesistesting.Wealsodo

not?nddifferencesinattritionbetweenthetreatmentandcontrolgroups.

6

7

Baselinesample:386

?Treatment:193

?Control:193

Baselinesurvey

April2019·F2F

Mid-linesurvey

January2020·F2F

(344)

End-linesurvey

May2020·Phone

(371)

andFlückiger

,

2017

;

Robertsetal.

,

2017a

;

WrzusandRoberts

,

2017

).Theaccumulationofconscientiousness-relatedbehaviorsandexperiencesshouldeventuallyleadtomorehabitualbehaviorsandexperiences,andpersonalitychangethroughbottom-upprocesses.Demon-stratingmoreconscientiousness-relatedbehaviorsintheworkplace,suchaspunctuality,responsibility,ororderliness,isdesirablefromboththeemployer’sandtheindividual’sperspective.Amorepunctualandresponsibleworkerismorelikelytoberetainedbythecompanyandreceiveahigherwage.Thismayinturnleadworkerstofeelthattheyarelivinguptotheexpectationsplacedonthem,promotingevenmoreconscientiousness-relatedbehaviorsandexperiencesinthefuture.

Figure1:Timelineofintervention

Conscientiousnessintervention

August2019·F2F

Eightweeklyphonecallreminders

August–October2019·Phone

Note:This?gureshowsthetimelineoftheinterventionforthetreatmentgroup.Thenumberofrespondentsisinparenthesis.F2Findicatesthesurveyorinterventionwasdoneface-to-face,whilephonesurveysarecodedwithPhone.SeeAppendixFigure

A.1

foramoredetailedversion.Figure

1

summarizesthetimelineoftheinte