Christopher Dougherty
Numeracy, literacy and earnings: evidence from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth
London School of Economics and Political Science
analysis concerned contributions numeracy literacy earnings three reasons first clear pattern emerges existing findings relating contributions different types ability numeracy literacy appear natural basic starting point second measures improve numeracy literacy often given priority policies intended help lowest educational attainment third growth knowledgebased economy increasing importance digital technology interest compare levels rates change contributions numeracy literacy reflected earnings results suggest numeracy highly significant effect earnings mostly effect college attainment also directly controlling attainment interactively attainment effect may subject increasing returns magnitude effect small absolute terms substantial compared effects appears increasing rate 6 per year despite fact even greater effect numeracy college attainment literacy smaller less significant effect earnings evidence interactive effect attainment nonlinearity change time absence nonlinearity measures improve literacy may impact measures improve numeracy earnings least able difference great quantitative effects appear small