A micro approach to cognitive skills’ growth in a university context

Abstract

This paper focuses on the measurement of human capital, specifically on the growth of cognitive skills (CS) during the higher education at university. CS have already been evaluated in a macroeconomic perspective inside the neoclassical growth models, but not still in a micro perspective. However the measure of educational quality and learning process is still an issue not fully addressed. The micro approach allows the researcher to focus on the evaluation of CS acquisition process. Based on these measurements, different types of CS accumulation can be identified. We will investigate CS through nonlinear latent growth modeling, and we will apply this methodology to administrative data of an Italian university