1 Introduction
One of the most exciting developments in labor economics over the past decade has been the reframing of standard theoretical and empirical models to accommodate the role of non-cognitive skills in driving labor market outcomes. What began as a simple recognition that non-cognitive skills – for example, personality traits, perseverance, locus of control, self-efficacy, self-esteem, social skills, etc. – often have predictive power in wage equations has evolved into a considered analysis of the mechanisms through which non-cognitive skills impact worker and firm decisions in general. The result has been a more profound understanding of the way that labor markets work and a more nuanced view of what it takes to be successful.