My research explores the implications of workers’ beliefs for labor supply and inequality. Specifically, I am interested in the relationship between aspirations and effort provision in different life stages. In Chapter 2, we study the relationship between occupational aspirations and performance on a standardized test. Occupational aspirations are individuals’ responses to the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” In our experiment, students have to list their ranking of three ideal occupations. We used expected and actual scores in a national high school exit exam as an indicator of effort provision. To study this relationship all the students were required to answer the questions of a career test but only the treatment group received career suggestions. We conducted this lab-in-the-field experiment with students in the last year of high schools in Arauca, a department with a high rate of violence due to the armed conflict and a high rate of young people who are not in education, employment, or training. Our findings suggest that while career suggestions can influence students’ occupational aspirations, they do not appear to impact the expected or actual scores on the exam. We argue that although occupational aspirations can be influenced by career suggestions, they do not affect educational performance. In Chapter 3, we analyze the relationship between income aspirations and performance on a codification task. Income aspirations are individuals’ responses to the question “What level of income would you like to receive for your effort?” In our experimental dual labor market, par ticipants could receive either a high or a low piece rate for the same kind of tasks. We measured effort provision based on the number of tasks completed within a set time frame. In this proctored online experiment, we exogenously vary the rule to assign participants to the high piece rate and low piece rate sub-groups. We invited participants between 18 and 27 years old, and we charac terized two samples: only students and workers. We argue that the perception of labor mobility based on productivity may transform the incentives to provide effort. Moreover, the effects for workers are dependent on the rule dictating the initial allocation. In other words, the perception of mobility is important in the provision of effort, which ultimately increases productivity. In Chapter 4, we explore the relationship the relationship between old-age support aspirations and care valuation. Old-age support aspirations are individuals’ responses to the question “What type of support would you like to receive in old age?” In our hypothetical vignette, the old-age 1 support could be provided by an offspring, a family member or a professional caregiver. Effort provision is measured as the amount of parental care time expected from the offspring. In this vignette study, we aim to explore gender bias in expected caregiving time allocation by randomly changing the gender of the recipients of participants’ suggestions. Participants were invited via the Rosario Experimental and Behavioral Economics Lab - REBEL from non-students subject pool, and they received the survey link via email. Our experiment revealed that the expected informal caregiving time provided by an individual’s offspring seems to be more influenced by the type of caregiver replacing the offspring, rather than the offspring’s gender itself.
