@TechReport{iza:izadps:dp18471,
            	author={Goulas, Sofoklis},
            	title={The Short- and Long-Run Impact of Comparative Noncognitive Skills},
            	year={2026},
	month={Mar},
            	institution={Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)},
            	address={Bonn},
            	type={IZA Discussion Paper},
            	number={18471},
            	url={https://www.iza.org/publications/dp18471},
	abstract={This study documents a new fact about educational production: Students’ relative standing in noncognitive skills has lasting effects distinct from absolute skills and achievement. Using administrative data from Greece and quasi-random classroom assignment, I identify the causal impact of comparative noncognitive skills, measured as grade 10 classroom rank in grade 9 unexcused absences. A worse rank has persistent, nonlinear effects. While it lowers achievement for both genders, boys respond by sorting into more competitive tracks and higher-earning degrees, whereas girls shift toward less competitive paths. Gender differences in comparative noncognitive skills explain 37% of the gap in expected post-college salaries.  Complementary evidence from a survey experiment shows that comparative behavioral labels systematically shift teachers’ expectations and attribution patterns for otherwise identical students. This suggests that relative-standing effects operate through belief-driven institutional responses.},
	keywords={noncognitive skills;ordinal rank;peer effects;STEM;gender gap},
            }