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Productivity Versus Motivation in Adolescent Human Capital Production: Evidence from a Structurally-Motivated Field Experiment

Author

Listed:
  • Christopher S. Cotton

    (Queen’s University - Department of Economics)

  • Brent R. Hickman

    (Washington University in St. Louis - Olin Business School)

  • John A. List

    (University of Chicago - Department of Economics; Australian National University; NBER)

  • Joseph Price

    (Brigham Young University - Department of Economics)

  • Sutanuka Roy

    (University of Chicago - Department of Economics, Australian National University)

Abstract
We leverage a field experiment across three distinct school districts to identify key pieces of a structural model of adolescent human capital production. Our focus is inspired by the contemporary psychology of education literature, which expresses learning as a function of the ratio of the time spent on learning to the time needed to learn. By capturing two crucial student-level unobservables—which we denote as academic efficiency (turning inputs into outputs) and time preference (motivation)—our field experiment lends insights into the underpinnings of adolescent skill formation and provides a novel view of how to lessen racial and gender achievement gaps. One general insight is that students who are falling behind their peers, whether correlated to race, gender, or school district, are doing so because of academic efficiency rather than time preference. We view this result, and others found in our data, as fundamental to practitioners, academics, and policymakers interested in designing strategies to provide equal opportunities to students.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher S. Cotton & Brent R. Hickman & John A. List & Joseph Price & Sutanuka Roy, 2020. "Productivity Versus Motivation in Adolescent Human Capital Production: Evidence from a Structurally-Motivated Field Experiment," Working Papers 2020-150, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:bfi:wpaper:2020-150
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    File URL: https://repec.bfi.uchicago.edu/RePEc/pdfs/BFI_WP_2020150.pdf
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. List, John A. & Momeni, Fatemeh & Zenou, Yves, 2020. "The Social Side of Early Human Capital Formation: Using a Field Experiment to Estimate the Causal Impact of Neighborhoods," IZA Discussion Papers 13966, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Burgess, Simon & Metcalfe, Robert & Sadoff, Sally, 2021. "Understanding the response to financial and non-financial incentives in education: Field experimental evidence using high-stakes assessments," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    3. Chuan, Amanda & List, John & Samek, Anya, 2021. "Do financial incentives aimed at decreasing interhousehold inequality increase intrahousehold inequality?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    4. Lenka Fiala & John Eric Humphries & Juanna Schrøter Joensen & Uditi Karna & John A. List & Gregory F. Veramendi, 2022. "How Early Adolescent Skills and Preferences Shape Economics Education Choices," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 112, pages 609-613, May.
    5. John A. List & Ian Muir & Gregory Sun, 2024. "Using machine learning for efficient flexible regression adjustment in economic experiments," Econometric Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(1), pages 2-40, July.
    6. John A. List & Ian Muir & Gregory K. Sun, 2022. "Using Machine Learning for Efficient Flexible Regression Adjustment in Economic Experiments," NBER Working Papers 30756, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. John A. List & Fatemeh Momeni & Yves Zenou, 2020. "The Social Side of Early Human Capital Formation: Using a Field Experiment to Estimate the Causal Impact of Neighborhoods," Working Papers 2020-187, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    8. Marco Castillo & John A. List & Ragan Petrie & Anya Samek, 2020. "Detecting Drivers of Behavior at an Early Age: Evidence from a Longitudinal Field Experiment," NBER Working Papers 28288, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Adolescent human capital; field experiment; structural econometrics; psychology of education;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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