nep-neu New Economics Papers
on Neuroeconomics
Issue of 2020‒11‒23
three papers chosen by



  1. Gender Peer Effects, Non-Cognitive Skills and Marriage Market Outcomes: Evidence From Single-Sex Schools in the UK By Lina Cardona; Katja M. Kaufmann
  2. Attention, recall and purchase: Experimental evidence on online news and advertising By Andre Veiga; Tommaso Valletti
  3. When fathers are gone: the consequences of paternal absence during the early years By Julieta Vera Rueda

  1. By: Lina Cardona; Katja M. Kaufmann
    Abstract: In this paper we analyze the long-run effects of single-sex schooling on individuals marriage and family outcomes. First, we show that individuals positively select into single-sex schools, i.e. they have (ex-ante) characteristics (such as higher cognitive and non-cognitive skills, better health, more likely catholic, more highly educated parents and higher family income) which are positively correlated with marriage (negatively with divorce). Despite positive selection, we find that singlesex education negatively affects men’s likelihood to ever having been married by their mid-forties and increases the likelihood of separation/divorce and we show that the estimated coefficients are likely to be lower bounds (in absolute value) of the true effects. For women on the other hand we do not find any effects. In terms of mechanisms, we show that single-sex schooling does not affect individuals’ preferences/aspirations for marriage suggesting negative welfare implications since men who attended single-sex schools are less likely to reach those goals. Instead, likely channels are fewer (romantic) interactions with the opposite gender during teenage age (even outside of school) and effects of single-sex education on boys’ non-cognitive skills (such as becoming more cautious and less aggressive) which negatively affect their marital chances. Lastly, we find that the likelihood of having a child is the same, while the likelihood of a (stable) marriage (conditional on having a child) is reduced with potentially important negative consequences for those children.
    Keywords: Single-sex schools, gender peer effects, marriage outcomes, noncognitive skills, propensity score matching
    Date: 2020–11
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2020_231&r=all
  2. By: Andre Veiga (Imperial College London); Tommaso Valletti (Imperial College London)
    Abstract: We conduct an experiment where 1,000 individuals read online news articles and are shown ads for branded goods next to those articles. Using eye-tracking technology, we measure the attention that each individual devotes to reading each article and viewing each ad. Then, respondents choose between cash or vouchers for branded goods. We find that attention is a predictor both of willingness-to-pay for brands, and for brand recall. We also give suggestive evidence of the main drivers of attention. These include the type of news, and the match between individual political preferences and the media outlet.
    Keywords: Online Advertising, Experiments, Attention, E-commerce, Targeting
    JEL: M37 C91 L86
    Date: 2020–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:net:wpaper:2015&r=all
  3. By: Julieta Vera Rueda (PSE - Paris School of Economics, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS Paris - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement)
    Abstract: I examine the causal effect of paternal absence during the first years of life on early childhood development. I take advantage of Young Lives study, a unique panel dataset including skill outcomes of pairs of siblings with different levels of paternal involvement. With a difference in difference approach, I first compare the younger sibling exposed to the father's absence in the early years versus the older one exposed at age 5. Then, I control for the gap in skills between siblings living in households with no absence. Results show that paternal absence in the early years leads to a relative worsening in nutritional outcomes when 5 years old. The gap persists when 8 and 12 years old, with no evidence of cumulative effects. On the contrary, younger siblings relatively outperform their older counterparts in cognition in Peru and Vietnam, sta tistically significant for the former country. These findings are consistent with critical windows for ability development during the first 1,000 days of life. I find support for this conclusion as I observe no strong evidence on differences in development when absence occurs at age 5 for the younger and 8 for the older sibling.
    Keywords: Early childhood development,Fatherhood,Developing countries
    Date: 2020–10
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-02978563&r=all

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