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Beliefs as a Means of Self-Control? Evidence from a Dynamic Student Survey

Felix Bönisch, Tobias König, Sebastian Schweighofer-Kodritsch and Georg Weizsäcker

No 14, Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers from Berlin School of Economics

Abstract: We repeatedly elicit beliefs about the returns to study effort, in a large university course. A behavioral model of quasi-hyperbolic discounting and malleable beliefs predicts that the dynamics of beliefs mirrors the importance of exerting self-control, such that believed returns increase as the exam approaches, and drop post-exam. Exploiting variation in exam timing to control for common information shocks, we find this prediction confirmed: average believed study returns increase by about 20% over the period before the exam, and drop by about the same amount afterwards. Additional analyses further support the hypothesized mechanism that beliefs serve as a means of self-control.

Pages: 41 pages
Date: 2023-05-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe and nep-des
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Related works:
Working Paper: Beliefs as a Means of Self-Control? Evidence from a Dynamic Student Survey (2024) Downloads
Working Paper: Beliefs as a means of self-control? Evidence from a dynamic student survey (2019) Downloads
Working Paper: Beliefs as a Means of Self-Control? Evidence from a Dynamic Student Survey (2018) Downloads
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bdp:dpaper:0014

DOI: 10.48462/opus4-4945

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