Using comparable skill measures and covariates from the NLSY79 and NLSY97 surveys, David Deming found that the labor-market return to social skills was much greater in the 2000s than in the mid-1980s and 1990s.
Notes on verification
Confirmed by Deming's peer-reviewed QJE paper and NBER working paper, using NLSY79 and NLSY97 data; findings widely cited in labor economics literature. [tier=unverified indep_score=0.3 clusters=3 claim_tier=notable] [rescored 2026-09-15: curated origin-host map (PR #65); unclassified hosts no longer scored as aggregators]
Sources
- The Growing Importance of Social Skills in the Labor Market (seed:relationships_and_lifestyle)
- https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w21473/w21473.pdf (corroboration)
- https://static1.squarespace.com/static/60832ecef615231cedd30911/t/6088224222500b1083b5ac1e/1619534406228/Deming_SocialSkills_QJE.pdf (corroboration)
- https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/qjecon/v132y2017i4p1593-1640..html (corroboration)