A new study using panel data from Poland tests whether acquiring basic digital skills leads to better labor market outcomes — and finds that, for most adults, it does not. The reasons may surprise you.
This article focuses on the labor market outcomes of the acquisition of basic digital skills. A review of similar previous studies suggests that it is the first to focus specifically on basic digital skills, to be based on a repeated measurement of these skills, and to take account of a wide range of labor market outcomes.
The aim is to empirically test whether the acquisition of basic digital skills leads to an improved professional situation.
After outlining hypothetical underlying causal mechanisms, the authors use a unique panel dataset from a repeated assessment carried out in Poland and a propensity score weighting technique to obtain two comparable groups of adults.
No significant effect of the acquisition of basic digital skills is found, with most effect estimates approaching zero. Additional strands of analysis indicate two probable reasons for this apparent lack of impact.
First, most adults who acquired basic digital skills did not obtain jobs requiring these skills. Second, what seems to be rewarded in the labor market is experience using work-relevant software, rather than possessing basic digital skills.
A key policy implication is that the education and training system should provide individuals with more than basic digital skills in order to increase their employability.