Economics research seminar: Silvia Pápai, Concordia University

Research topic: Affirmative Action Policies in School Choice: Immediate versus Deferred Acceptance (joint with Muntasir Chaudhury)

Presenter

Silvia  Pápai, Concordia University

Topic

Affirmative Action Policies in School Choice: Immediate versus Deferred Acceptance

abstract

Economic inequality remains a pressing social issue that is poorly understood. In this paper, we hypothesize that socioeconomic status may moderate the effect of historical outcomes on willingness to take risk, leading to wealth-reducing choices among those with lower incomes. To test our hypothesis, we analyze a rich data set that includes bet-level data of 10,000 gamblers over a period of one year and confirm that past wager outcomes have a differential effect on behavior for different SES groups. Even though past outcomes do not carry any additional information (all gambles are independent) and therefore should not affect subsequent choices, those residing in low SES neighborhoods are more influenced by previous day outcomes – they stake more, take more risk, and end up losing more following both large cumulative gains and losses. While a lower number of residents from low SES areas participate in online sports betting, when they do, they experience worse outcomes.

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