Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/191617 
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Title: 

Confidence and career choices: An experiment

The document was removed on behalf of the author(s)/ the editor(s).

Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
WZB Discussion Paper No. SP II 2018-301r
Version Description: 
January 2018 (revised January 2019)
Publisher: 
Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB), Berlin
Abstract: 
Confidence is often seen as the key to success. Empirical evidence about how such beliefs about one’s abilities causally map into actions is, however, sparse. In this paper, we experimentally investigate the causal effect of an increase in confi-dence about one’s own ability on two central choices made by workers in the la-bor market: choosing between jobs with different incentive schemes, and the sub-sequent choice of how much effort to exert within the job. An exogenous increase in confidence leads to an increase in subjects’ propensity to choose payment schemes that depend heavily on ability. This is detrimental for low ability workers. Policy implications are discussed.
Subjects: 
overconfidence
experiment
beliefs
real-effort
grade inflation
JEL: 
C91
D03
M50
J24
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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The document was removed on behalf of the author(s)/ the editor(s) on: July 1, 2020


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