The determinants of occupational sorting: Evidence from Mozambique

Arbeitspapier

We examine the link between individual characteristics and sorting into different occupations using data from university students in Mozambique. We provide a comprehensive approach combining the main determinants of occupational sorting identified in the literature in a single framework to test both the importance and mutual independence of different groups of factors: fixed personal characteristics, job characteristics, economic preferences, and personality traits. We widen the typical scope of analysis by including the non-profit sector and selfemployment as alternative options to the public and private sectors, given their importance in the context of low-income countries. In line with previous work, we find that age and gender are important determinants of occupational choice. Our results give more weight to the importance of job characteristics as determinants of individuals' preferences compared to the effects of economic preferences and personality traits. We find a particularly surprising profile for those preferring the public sector, namely that they have a high propensity to cheat and a high score for neuroticism. Moreover, we do not find a significant effect of risk preferences or pro-sociality on the preference for this sector.

Object Details

• ISBN: 978-92-9267-021-4
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: WIDER Working Paper ; No. 2021/83

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Field Experiments ; Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making‡ ; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity ; Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
• Subject: occupational choices ; economic preferences ; personal characteristics ; Mozambique

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Ferreira, Ines A. ; Jones, Sam ; Mouco, Jorge ; Santos, Ricardo
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER)
• (where): Helsinki
• (when): 2021

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.35188/UNU-WIDER/2021/021-4
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/243409
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET