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on Neuroeconomics |
| By: | Renske Stans; Laura Ehrmantraut; Malin Siemers; Pia Pinger |
| Abstract: | Do employers seek to attract individuals with more education because it enhances human capital or because it signals higher levels of pre-existing traits? We experimentally vary master’s degree completion rates on applicant résumés and examine how this influences candidates’ desirability and employer perceptions of their productive characteristics. Our findings show that while a completed master’s degree increases desirability, an incomplete master’s degree is perceived by human resource managers as less favorable than a bachelor’s degree. This suggests that employers prefer candidates with higher education mainly because they view the degree as a signal of pre-existing productive traits. Consistent with this, employers perceive both cognitive and non-cognitive traits as stronger in master graduates but non-cognitive traits as weaker in master dropouts compared to bachelor’s degree holders. Overall, perceived cognitive and non-cognitive traits play a larger role in determining a candidate’s attractiveness than expertise. This paper thus provides causal evidence on the origins of the education premium. |
| Keywords: | returns to education, beliefs, labor demand, labor productivity, signaling, wages |
| JEL: | I23 I26 J23 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11714 |
| By: | Donata Stonkute (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Angelo Lorenti (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Jo M. Hale (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) |
| Abstract: | Variations in the accumulation and decline of cognitive reserve across different cultural and institutional contexts, as well as selective survival processes that influence which population groups remain at risk for cognitive impairment, may contribute to the heterogeneity of educational disparities in cognitive health across European countries and between genders. We explore how educational disparities in Cognitive Health Expectancies (CHE) for men and women vary across different contextual settings in Europe, with a particular focus on Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. Applying multivariate life table approach and the Sullivan methods to the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) data, we estimated CHE by gender and education at age 50 and the proportion of CHE relative to remaining life expectancy, across 10 European countries. We found that educational inequalities in cognitive health are significantly influenced by national context, with some of the most pronounced effects in CEE countries, particularly for women. Despite higher overall educational attainment in CEE countries, the benefits typically associated with education did not translate equally across groups. The key divergence, which is most pronounced for women, occurs among those with low educational attainment, who appear to be highly disadvantaged. Substantially smaller disparities, such as observed in Northern European countries, suggest untapped potential for mitigating educational inequalities in cognitive ageing. |
| Keywords: | Europe |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2025-009 |
| By: | Clarke, Damian (University of Chile); Bhalotra, Sonia R. (University of Warwick); Nazarova, Angelina (ISER, University of Essex) |
| Abstract: | Looking at the earnings profiles of men and women after their first child is born, a number of studies establish that women suffer a larger penalty in earnings than men—a child penalty. Leveraging randomness in the sex of the first birth, we show that the child penalty in the UK is larger when the first born child is a girl. We label this the daughter penalty. Exploiting rich longitudinal survey data, we examine behavioural responses to the birth of a daughter vs. a son to illuminate the underpinnings of the daughter penalty. We find that the birth of a daughter triggers more household specialisation than the birth of a son, with mothers taking on a larger share of household chores and childcare. Mothers suffer a daughter penalty in mental health, while fathers report more satisfaction with their relationship. Our findings imply that girls and boys in the UK are, on average, growing up in different home environments, with girls growing up in households that, by multiple markers, are more gender-regressive. This is potentially a mechanism for the inter-generational transmission of gendered norms. |
| Keywords: | parental involvement, mental health, gender wage gap, child penalty, gender |
| JEL: | J2 J7 I3 |
| Date: | 2025–04 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17817 |