Effect of secondary education on cognitive and non-cognitive skills

We examine the effects of secondary education on cognitive and non-cognitive skills using admission cutoffs to general secondary schools. We measure these skills using the Finnish Defence Forces Basic Skills Test, which, due to compulsory military service, covers the vast majority of Finnish men and serves as a strong predictor of later labor market success. We find that the large differences in the average skills across men that differ in their schooling when entering military service are due to selection rather than causal effects of secondary education on either cognitive or non-cognitive skills.