Job Market Paper
Self-Esteem and Procrastination: Evidence from a Field Experiment (draft available upon request)
Abstract: Commitment devices are a common solution for procrastination, yet evidence on their effectiveness is mixed. The theory of self-handicapping procrastination points to a different cause: people procrastinate to protect their self-image, because failure after low effort can be attributed to effort rather than ability. This tendency is stronger for people with low self-esteem, so raising self-esteem should reduce procrastination. I test this mechanism in a field experiment with 2,774 university students. Students are randomly assigned to a self-esteem booster that provides a positive message about their study time, a goal-setting intervention, an information treatment that reports the same study time as the booster without the positive message, or a control group, with treatments delivered through weekly notifications in a learning app. Using a novel high-frequency dataset from the app, I find that the booster increases overall study effort during the academic year, and more study effort in every day of the week. The goal-setting and information interventions have no significant effect, so the result comes from the positive message rather than from information on study time. The effect on study effort persists in the following semester, after the intervention ends, which suggests habit formation. Survey evidence supports the mechanism: students in the booster group report higher self-esteem and lower procrastination.
Presented at: Ph.D. Seminar, St. Gallen; EER Summer School in Experimental and Behavioral Economics, Rome; The Chicago School in Experimental Economics, Chicago; Advances with Field Experiments (AFE) Conference, Chicago; North-American Economic Science Association (ESA) Meeting, Tucson; Behavioral Economics Lab Group, Chicago Booth; University of Chicago Experimental Group, Chicago; Economics Brown Bag Seminar, St. Gallen; SKILS Seminar, Laax; Behavioral Insights and Parenting Lab, Chicago Harris; LEAP Lunch Seminar, Bocconi University; Milan PhD Economics Workshop, Bocconi University; Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES) Annual Congress, St. Gallen; European Economic Association (EEA) Meeting, Dublin; European Association for Labour Economists (EALE) Conference, Barcelona; European Economic Science Association (ESA) Meeting, Barcelona; Swiss Education Network Workshop, St. Gallen; Innovation Growth Lab (IGL); Economics Brown Bag Seminar, Lugano (scheduled)
Working Papers
The Thin Line: AI Performance Evaluation and Risk-Taking (draft available upon request)
Abstract: How does replacing human evaluators with AI affect workers’ risk-taking? I develop a model in which human leniency reduces the expected cost of risky strategies by allowing some mistakes to go unpenalized. Removing this leniency through AI evaluation lowers risk-taking. To test the model, I exploit the staggered adoption of Electronic Line Calling(ELC), an AI-based camera system that replaces human line judges in professional tennis. The sample includes 12,891 matches, 233 players, and 94 tournaments from 2021 to 2025. I compare the same player across tournaments with and without ELC. I find that ELC reduces the ace rate and the double-fault rate, and raises the first-serve-in rate. Players also change where they aim their serves, which shows that the effects reflect a change in behavior rather than a mechanical consequence of more accurate calls.
Presented at: PhD Seminar, Bocconi University; SEW-HSG Quant Workshop (scheduled)
Work in Progress
Intergenerational mobility: the role of peers in higher education,
with Elisabeth Essbaumer and Beatrix Eugster (data collection in progress)
On the Mechanisms of Ability Peer Effects,
with Beatrix Eugster and Valentina Sontheim (data collection in progress)
In or Out? Goals and Productivity,
with Jeremia Stalder (pilot concluded)
Digital Cupid? Dating Apps, Mental Health, Beliefs and Sorting: Evidence from a Field Experiment,
with Matteo Fossi (pilot in progress)
Loneliness and Time Preferences,
with Giovanni Burro (pilot concluded)
Pre-Doctoral Publications
with Benedetta Lucchitta , Valentina Palermo, Giulia Melica, Tania Molteni, Paolo Bertoldi, Edoardo Croci
Helyon, Volume 10, Issue 1, January 2024