Research

Works in Progress

Self-confirming Anticipated Discrimination, Labour Supply and Affirmative Action (Job Market Paper)

This paper studies how beliefs of discrimination in hiring may affect labour supply decisions and thus become self-fulfilling. Evidence demonstrates that individuals anticipating discrimination may be less willing to apply for work; since this decision is also a function of one's inherent ability, employers may observe different ability distributions among applicant groups. This dynamic constitutes a coordination failure: while a non-discriminatory equilibrium is always possible, without a sufficiently restrictive affirmative action policy, beliefs on demand and supply side could support strategies which give rise to equilibrium discrimination. In this paper, I provide evidence for this dynamic in explaining the under-representation of disadvantaged groups in certain labour markets. First, I employ a survey of undergraduate students to show that individuals do anticipate discrimination and that this may affect their choice of employer. I then proceed to derive a theoretical model which proves the existence of the described multiple equilibria when the distribution of ability is fixed but labour supply is endogenous on the extensive margin. I also show that a quota may destabilise this discriminatory equilibrium. Finally, I test the assumptions of this model using a stylised laboratory experiment.

The Cultural Trust Gap: Discriminative Trust Across England’s North-South Divide

Trust—the belief in another individual’s or organisation’s intent to act in good faith—is a cornerstone of social prosperity. However, cultural norms significantly influence trust levels within and between groups, often leading to discriminatory behaviors that undermine cooperation. This paper investigates the impact of culture on trust in England—a culturally and economically divided nation—using a novel experimental approach that isolates trust from confounding factors such as risk preferences and distributional concerns. Focusing on self-identified Southerners and Northerners, I find evidence of a cultural trust gap. Specifically, while Southerners exhibit equal trust towards both groups, Northerners trust Southerners significantly less than their own group. By decomposing trust into its conditional and unconditional components, I show that this disparity is driven by unconditional trust: Northerners perceive Southerners as more selfish than their own culture.

Identifying Trust from Social Preferences in Experiments (with R. Caputo)

Gender Competition & Stereotypes: A General Equilibrium Framework (with M. Hilweg-Waldeck)