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on Neuroeconomics |
| By: | Hélène Benghalem; Mirjam Bächli; Doriana Tinello; Sascha Zuber; Mauro Cherubini; Damaris Aschwanden; Matthias Kliegel; Rafael Lalive; Michele Pellizzari |
| Abstract: | Cognition is likely to be important for job search, but its role is not yet well understood. We study an online field experiment with jobseekers registered at the Swiss public employment services. Participants were randomly assigned to an online cognitive training program designed to strengthen core cognitive abilities and transversal cognitive abilities relevant for job search. Combining administrative and survey data on employment and earnings, we find that access to cognitive training substantially increases employment rates and earnings while reducing reliance on transfer income. In a simple search model, these findings could arise when cognition improves search effectiveness leading to lower search effort but higher chances of employment. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment, Online job search, Cognitive Training |
| JEL: | J64 J62 C93 |
| Date: | 2026–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:crm:wpaper:26226 |
| By: | Leandro Carvalho; Sjoerd van Alten; Silvia Barcellos; Stephen Dorn; Titus Galama; Catharina A. Hartman; Qiongshi Lu; Dilnoza Muslimova |
| Abstract: | Personality is associated with economic outcomes, but whether these relationships are causal remains unclear. We exploit within-family variation in genetic propensity toward the Big Five generated by random genetic transmission from parents to offspring. Combining polygenic indexes from the Lifelines cohort study with 19 years of administrative tax records in the Netherlands, we find that greater genetic propensity toward emotional stability increases earnings and household wealth, while genetic propensity toward conscientiousness increases household wealth. The other three traits show no consistent pattern across outcomes and specifications. The effect of genetic propensity toward emotional stability on earnings remains positive as we progressively account for genetic propensity toward educational attainment, cognitive performance, and depression. These findings strengthen the evidence that personality causally affects earnings and wealth. |
| Date: | 2026–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2610.06088 |
| By: | David Card; Laura Giuliano |
| Abstract: | We study an accelerated 3-year math curriculum offered in the middle schools of a large urban district that enables students to finish Algebra I and Geometry before high school. Entry to the program is based on 5th-grade math test scores, with a cutoff at the 80th percentile. Continuing eligibility requires at least a B grade in the previous year; successful completion of all three years is highly correlated with an index of non-cognitive skills. Following students for 6 years after high school graduation, we find that the impacts of admission vary widely by non-cognitive skill and gender. Marginally eligible boys with high non-cognitive skills have a 33 percentage point (ppt.) increase in the probability of completing calculus by 11th grade and a 12 ppt. increase in the probability of completing a major in STEM or business within 6 years; boys with lower noncognitive skills take more advanced math classes in high school but have no significant effects on their college outcomes. Like their male peers, marginally eligible girls with high non-cognitive skills are more likely to complete calculus by 11th grade (+17 ppt.). Their rate of graduating with a STEM or business major is unaffected, but they switch from social sciences to the core STEM majors (science, engineering and math). Girls in the two lower terciles of non-cognitive skill are also strongly affected by entry to the program, with higher participation in advanced math classes in high school, higher rates of entry to selective 4-year colleges, and higher rates of completing a STEM or business major (+12 ppt). |
| JEL: | I21 |
| Date: | 2026–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35847 |
| By: | Malcolm Wright; Olivia Petit (Kedge BS - Kedge Business School); Alexander Schnack |
| Abstract: | This article provides a novel functionalist account of embodiment in immersive virtual environments, grounded in a formal model of cognition, supported by past empirical evidence, and offering a testable framework for predicting when virtual experiences will produce cognitive and emotional effects. Our approach complements existing work on telepresence and subjective experience by applying the Thin Model as an intermediate theory linking interface affordances to perception, emotion, and behavior. Drawing on previously published immersive virtual reality studies, we show that when key functional elements - such as sensing, recognition, inspection, and feedback - are preserved, behavioral and emotional outcomes remain stable even when locomotion mechanisms differ. These findings support a criterion of functional sufficiency for embodiment where interface substitution leaves core policies of action unchanged. We outline a set of theory-driven tests to identify the limits of this invariance and argue that embodiment should be defined by the integrity of the perception–action loop, not by anatomical mimicry. |
| Keywords: | ecological validity, embodiment, functional sufficiency, immersive virtual reality, mental simulation, multisensory integration, perception-action loop, telepresence 1, ecological validity embodiment functional sufficiency immersive virtual reality mental simulation multisensory integration perception-action loop telepresence 1 |
| Date: | 2026–02–27 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05732309 |
| By: | Suswati Nasution (Economic and Business Faculty, University of Bengkulu, Indonesia Author-2-Name: Praningrum Author-2-Workplace-Name: Doctoral Program in Management, University of Bengkulu, Indonesia Author-3-Name: Anggri Puspita Sari Author-3-Workplace-Name: Doctoral Program in Management, University of Bengkulu, Indonesia Author-4-Name: Gustini Author-4-Workplace-Name: Doctoral Program in Management, University of Bengkulu, Indonesia Author-5-Name: Lydia Gustina Putri Author-5-Workplace-Name: Doctoral Program in Management, University of Bengkulu, Indonesia Author-6-Name: Author-6-Workplace-Name: Author-7-Name: Author-7-Workplace-Name: Author-8-Name: Author-8-Workplace-Name:) |
| Abstract: | " Objective - This study aims to examine the role of coping optimism as a psychological mechanism linking self-efficacy and self-acceptance to adaptive performance among public sector employees. Specifically, the study investigates whether coping optimism functions as a full mediator in transforming personal psychological resources into adaptive workplace behavior. Methodology/Technique - A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted involving 206 civil servants employed in regional government institutions. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) with bootstrapping procedures to assess the measurement and structural models. Findings - The results indicate that self-efficacy and self-acceptance significantly enhance coping optimism. In turn, coping optimism has a significant positive effect on adaptive performance. The mediation analysis demonstrates that coping optimism fully mediates the relationships between self-efficacy, self-acceptance, and adaptive performance, suggesting that personal resources contribute to employee adaptability through optimistic coping processes. The model explains 52.5% of the variance in adaptive performance and demonstrates satisfactory predictive relevance. Novelty - This study extends the adaptive performance literature by positioning coping optimism as a full mediating mechanism rather than merely an antecedent of adaptive performance. By integrating Social Cognitive Theory, Stress Appraisal Theory, Conservation of Resources Theory, and the Broaden-and-Build Theory, the study provides a comprehensive explanation of how personal psychological resources are transformed into adaptive workplace behavior within public sector organizations. Type of Paper - Empirical" |
| Keywords: | adaptive performance, coping optimism, self-efficacy, self-acceptance, full mediation, public sector. |
| JEL: | M12 M19 |
| Date: | 2026–09–30 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gtr:gatrjs:jmmr368 |