![]() ![]() To do this we combine data from an artefactual field experiment with survey data collected from the targeted community. ![]() In this paper, we examine the determinants of self-selection into a vocational training program in India. Our theory suggests that cognitive tests should take place as early as possible, in order to avoid that systematic differences in self-confidence among equally talented people lead to the emergence of gaps in the accumulation of human capital. If differences in self-confidence are correlated with socio-economic background (as a large body of empirical literature suggests), self-confidence can be a channel through which education and earning inequalities perpetuate across generations. We show that when the learning process does not converge quickly to the true ability level, small differences in initial confidence can result in diverging patterns of human capital accumulation between otherwise identical individuals. We propose a model in which fully rational agents exploit all the available information to update their beliefs using Bayes’ rule, eventually learning their true type. In this paper we analyze the role played by self-confidence, modeled as beliefs about one's ability, in shaping task choices.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |