• "Disadvantage and Beliefs" with P.Dalton and S. Ghosal. Submitted

Abstract: We study how structural disadvantage (e.g., race, class, gender) shapes the formation of subjective beliefs about the returns to effort. We formalize and distinguish between psychological constructs such as locus of control, self-efficacy, and grit, and study their response to structural disadvantage and policy interventions. In our model, individuals share the same (unknown) innate ability, and beliefs about success can only be updated through effort. However, agents fail to internalize the dynamic feedback between effort and belief formation. Structural disadvantage raises the threshold of belief required to justify effort, increasing the likelihood of falling into a pessimistic low-effort trap. We characterize the conditions under which psychological interventions that bound beliefs from below and enhance grit improve welfare, and when such interventions must be complemented by policies that relax external constraints to be effective. 

• "The Time Sensitivity of Aspirational Interventions: Evidence from a Role-Modeling RCT " with P.Bhan, J.Wen and M.Schroeder, R&R at Plos One. AEA RCT Registry 

Abstract: This paper investigates the short-run effects of an aspiration-raising intervention delivered via a randomized controlled trial among postgraduate students at a UK university during the Covid-19 pandemic. A video-based role-modelling intervention led to an immediate increase in aspirations and a delayed increase in self-reported effort. However, both effects dissipated within a few weeks. Employing a simple behavioral model that incorporates time-varying psychological cost of deviating from aspirations, we argue that aspirations may exert greater influence on effort when the goal is closer in time. Our findings suggest that timing and reinforcement are important considerations for the sustained effectiveness of aspiration-building strategies.

• " On the Existence of Monopoly Equilibrium: A substitutability approach"

Abstract: We study the existence of a monopoly equilibrium in the bilateral mixed exchange framework introduced by Busetto et al.(2023). Non existence examples in which small traders have CES utility functions are provided and a link between the existence of an equilibrium and the degree of substitutability of the goods is explored. Therefore, the existence result is proved by introducing a sufficient assumption on the utilities of the small traders, stressing that we need them to be locally equivalent to linear utilities.