Education, Decision Making, and Economic Rationality

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Banks, James; Carvalho, Leandro S.; Perez-Arce, Francisco
• 署名单位: University of Manchester; University of Southern California
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_00785
• 发表日期: 2019-07
• 页码: 428-441
• 关键词: expected-utility theory; cognitive-abilities; health-evidence; risk-aversion; CHOICE; money; POWER

摘要

This paper studies the causal effect of education on decision making. In 1972, England raised its minimum school-leaving age from 15 to 16 for students born after September 1, 1957. An online survey was conducted with 2,700 individuals born in a 36-month window on either side of this date. Participants made 25 incentivized risk choices that allow us to measure multiple dimensions of decision making. Despite the policy having effects on education, educational qualifications, and income, we find no effects of the policy on decision making or decision-making quality.