Review Reports - From Classroom to Workplace: The Combined Effects of Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills on Youth Labor Market Outcomes in Kenya

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The study analyzes an interesting and well-researched topic, but through the example of the Kenyan population. It will probably be of interest to the readership in the article.

In its current state, I do not consider it suitable for publication, but after the modifications suggested below, the article is expected to be suitable.

The purpose of the study is clear and easy to understand. The methodology is well explained, the presentation of the results is detailed. The literature could be further expanded with more recent studies. The most critical part is currently the discussion, this section needs further expansion. Much more literature references would be needed to see how the authors' results appear among the already published results and whether there are any discrepancies.

Author Response

Response to Reviewers’ Comments

Title: From Classroom to Workplace: The Combined Effects of Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills on Youth Labor Market Outcomes in Kenya

Corresponding author: carolbisieri@gmail.com

We thank the reviewers for their valuable feedback, which has been instrumental in improving the manuscript. Below, we provide detailed responses to each of the comments.

Comment	Response
Reviewer 1: Comments and Suggestions for Authors
The literature could be further expanded with more recent studies.	Thank you for pointing this out. We have incorporated recent studies published in the last five years, particularly those focusing on labor market transitions in similar contexts (Please see them highlighted in yellow, in the revised manuscript attached). These additions enrich the introduction and discussion sections, providing an updated and comprehensive context for our findings.
The discussion section needs further expansion with more references to existing literature.	We have expanded the discussion section to better integrate our findings with existing research. This includes explicitly linking our results to previous studies, highlighting similarities and differences, and discussing implications. Additional references have been included to strengthen the discussion.

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The paper deals with a relevant topic (transitions from education to the labour market) and an interesting case study (Kenya). The authors use a very rich dataset that is specifically suited for the objective of the research.

The paper is well written, well structured and the applied methodology is adequate taking into account the research questions that have been formulated. I have, however, a couple of comments and suggestions before the paper can be potentially published in Economies

1. The endogenous variable has only two values: employed and unemployed. Would it be possible to add a third option: inactive? Probably it doesn't make too much sense for this specific labour market, but if this is the case, please add more details about why you have not considered this option neither for men nor for women. The employment gap between men and women could be related to this fact.

2. In a similar vain, would it be possible to consider formal/informal employment?

4. However, my main concern is that the authors go much beyond what one can really see in the results shown in tables 2 and 3. Only one relevant variable among those related to non-cognitive skills is statistically significant, but the discussion and conclusions are making a case for a political discourse that it is not direcly derived from the empirical analysis. This part needs to be rewritten putting more focus on formal education.

5. Currently, the reproducibility/replicability of the research is not fully guaranteed. I understand the restrictions for data, but perhaps the authors can provide more details about meta-data, variable definition and replication codes.

Author Response

Response to Reviewers’ Comments

Title: From Classroom to Workplace: The Combined Effects of Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills on Youth Labor Market Outcomes in Kenya

Corresponding author: carolbisieri@gmail.com

We thank the reviewers for their valuable feedback, which has been instrumental in improving the manuscript. Below, we provide detailed responses to each of the comments.

Reviewer 2: Comments and Suggestions for Authors
The endogenous variable has only two values: employed and unemployed. Would it be possible to add a third option: inactive? If not, please justify.	We appreciate the suggestion to include an "inactive" category in the analysis. While this classification could provide additional insights, we did not include it for the following reasons: In the specific labor market under study, inactivity is either negligible or difficult to distinguish from unemployment due to cultural and economic factors. For example, individuals classified as "inactive" in other contexts (e.g., homemakers, students, retirees) could often self-identify as "unemployed" when surveyed, particularly in settings where definitions of inactivity are less prevalent or understood. Including "inactive" as a separate category could lead to data misclassification, as the survey did not explicitly define or collect data on inactivity distinct from unemployment.
Would it be possible to consider formal/informal employment?	Yes, it is entirely possible to consider formal and informal employment as part of future research or an extension of this research. Formal and informal employment have distinct characteristics, and analyzing them could provide deeper insights into the youth labor market. In this study, since the objective was limited to understanding the employment and unemployment status of youth, it makes sense that such detailed categorization wasn't included. However, incorporating formal/informal employment in future research could help.
The discussion and conclusions are overly reliant on results that are not directly supported by the data.	We appreciate this observation and have revised the discussion and conclusion sections to focus more closely on the empirical results. We also had inserted the wrong Table 3, but we have replaced it with the right table 3. Policy recommendations are now more closely aligned with the data.
The reproducibility/replicability of the research is not fully guaranteed.	Thanks for the concern. The data supporting the findings of this study are available upon reasonable request from the corresponding author. Due to privacy and confidentiality concerns, access may be limited to ensure compliance with ethical guidelines and participant consent. Detailed description of the variables and how the scores were computed are provided in the methodology section to enhance the transparency and reproducibility of the study.