Research
Here I provide abstracts to all current working papers along with a simple list of my current works in progress. All working manuscripts are available upon request.
Working Papers
Sunk Costs in Performance Beliefs
Abstract: Can real-effort costs affect beliefs about ego-relevant performance and ability? In a novel experimental framework where we exogenously vary the cost and quality of feedback, we show that subjects who pay a real-effort cost to obtain performance-related feedback adjust their beliefs differently than those who pay nothing. When subjects receive highly accurate feedback about their performance, under-inference is moderate, and there are no significant differences between those who pay a cost and those who do not. However, when subjects receive less accurate feedback, those who receive the free feedback show extreme under-inference, but those who pay a cost are approximately Bayesian. We argue that behavioral costs can stimulate responsiveness to feedback in environments with information structures that would otherwise motivate significant conservatism.
JEL: C91, D81, D83
Art Is In the Eye of the Beholder: The Effects of Racial Protests on Experimental Evaluations (honourable mentions go to Oliver Hauser and Graeme Pearce)
Abstract: This paper exploits a unique panel of experimental data to study whether the George Floyd Protests and Kenosha Unrest affected race in worker evaluations. In order to manipulate race, we randomly assigned white and black-sounding names to worker-generated output. We establish that white individuals discriminate solely within in-group domains. Black names received lower ratings during the most active months of the George Floyd Protests and showed no racial differences around Kenosha Unrest. Outside active months of social unrest, black names instead received higher evaluations. The data suggest our findings are likely driven by taste rather than belief-based partiality.
JEL: C91, D91, J10, J15
Selected Works in Progress
Talent, Sorting, and Redistributive Uncertainty (with Oliver Hauser)
- Initial Draft Completed, Revisions in Progress
I Like Information, But Not From You: The Effects of Names on Self-Updating
- Data Collection in Progress