1、Policy Research Working Paper10755Soft Skills,Competition,and Hiring DiscriminationChristian ValenciaSarah JanzenYashodhan GhorpadeAmanina Abdur RahmanSocial Protection and Jobs Global PracticeApril 2024 Public Disclosure AuthorizedPublic Disclosure AuthorizedPublic Disclosure AuthorizedPublic Discl

2、osure AuthorizedProduced by the Research Support TeamAbstractThe Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues.An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly,even if the presentations are

3、less than fully polished.The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly.The findings,interpretations,and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors.They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Devel

4、opment/World Bank and its affiliated organizations,or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.Policy Research Working Paper 10755This paper conducts a correspondence study to assess demand for soft skills in the context of hiring discrimination in Malaysi

5、a.No evidence of gender-based discrimination is found,including in science,technology,engineering,and mathematics occupations.However,in line with previous studies in the same context,there is evidence of ethnic discrimination.The paper then test the relevance of two soft skills:leadership and teamw

6、ork.These tests find some evidence that the labor market rewards simple signals of teamwork for the average applicant.Teamwork also plays an important role in the context of labor market discrimi-nation,reducing the discrimination gap by 40 percent.In contrast,signaling leadership skills has no effe