Analysis of data from the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) has demonstrated that directly assessed literacy and numeracy skills have a significant impact on a range of social and labour market outcomes observed at the individual level impacts that come on top of those attributable to educational attainment.
This paper estimates the impact that the level and distribution of directly assessed skill has had on rates of productivity growth and overall economic growth over the period 1960-1995 for a group of fourteen highly developed OECD economies.