Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/221821 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
WZB Discussion Paper No. SP II 2018-301r2
Version Description: 
January 2018 (2nd revision June 2020)
Publisher: 
Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB), Berlin
Abstract: 
Confidence in one's own abilities is often seen as an important determinant of being successful. Empirical evidence about how such beliefs about one's own abilities causally influence choices is, however, sparse. In this paper, we use a stylized laboratory experiment to investigate the causal effect of an increase in confidence on two important choices made by workers in the labor market: (i) choosing between jobs with a payment scheme that depends heavily on ability [high earnings risk] and those that pay a fixed wage [low earnings risk], and (ii) the subsequent choice of how much effort to exert within the job. We find that an exogenous increase in confidence leads to an increase in subjects' propensity to choose payment schemes that depend heavily on ability. This is detrimental for low ability workers due to high baseline levels of confidence.
Subjects: 
overconfidence
experiment
beliefs
real-effort
career choices
JEL: 
C91
D03
M50
J24
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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