Effects of Peers and Rank on Cognition, Preferences, and Personality

Arbeitspapier

We exploit the variation in admission cutoffs across colleges at a leading Indian university to estimate the causal effects of enrolling in a selective college on cognitive attainment, economic preferences, and Big Five personality traits. Using a regression discontinuity design, we find that enrolling in a selective college improves university exam scores of the marginally admitted females, and makes them less overconfident and less risk averse, while males in selective colleges experience a decline in extraversion and conscientiousness. We find differences in peer quality and rank concerns to be driving our findings.

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• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: GLO Discussion Paper ; No. 591

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Higher Education; Research Institutions ; Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General ; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity ; Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
• Subject: College Quality ; Peer Effects ; Rank Concerns ; Regression Discontinuity ; India

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Dasgupta, Utteeyo ; Mani, Subha ; Sharma, Smriti ; Singhal, Saurabh
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Global Labor Organization (GLO)
• (where): Essen
• (when): 2020

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/222233