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Abstract: This paper investigates how exposure to collectivist versus individualistic cultural values shapes immigrants’ labour market outcomes, drawing on rich Swedish administrative data. Leveraging variation in age at migration among immigrant siblings, I isolate the effects of differential cultural assimilation on earnings, educational attainment, and occupational choices. The results show that migrating at an older age is associated with lower earnings, both in absolute terms and relative to observable skills, with this penalty attenuated for immigrants originating from more individualistic cultures. Older age at migration is also linked to a reduced likelihood of completing tertiary education, potentially constraining subsequent labour market opportunities. Women, despite sorting disproportionately into prestigious occupations, continue to face a persistent wage penalty relative to men. By contrast, I find no systematic evidence that exposure to collectivist cultural values influences occupational sorting into prestigious, socially oriented, creative, or routine-intensive fields
Awarded: Best Student Paper Prize at the SABE/IAREP Conference, 2024
Abstract: This paper adds to the literature on experimental interventions that target smartphone use. I begin by developing a conceptual framework that models screen time consumption using reference-dependent preferences. I then test the model's predictions in an experiment examining the screen time habits of college students. Specifically, participants are asked to rank their current screen time habits relative to perceived peer behaviour, and I use a randomized treatment to correct the extent to which they may have misperceived their relative position. I find that individuals are (i) uninformed about the screen time habits of their peers, (ii) misperceive their relative position in the distribution, (iii) and on an average, the findings suggest correcting misperceptions through social comparisons reduces daily average screen time use. (iv) I also find suggestive evidence of a reduction in smartphone screen time being associated with an improvement in academic grades.
Abstract: This paper investigates the impact of Läxhjälpen, a remedial education program aimed at supporting students at risk of being ineligible for upper secondary school in Sweden. Utilizing rich Swedish administrative data, we leverage the staggered roll-out of the program across schools to compare treated students—those enrolled after the program's introduction—with control students from earlier cohorts within the same schools who meet the program's eligibility criteria. This within-school comparison mitigates confounding factors such as variation in school resources and teacher quality. Our findings reveal that the program significantly improves students’ cumulative grade point average (CGPA). While the program does not significantly influence eligibility for upper secondary school, it increases the likelihood of upper secondary school enrollment. These results underscore the effectiveness of targeted interventions in narrowing educational disparities among academically vulnerable groups.