讲座标题：同窗压力在教育中的事与愿违

主讲人：闫巨博教授

时间：2020年1月2日（周四）16:00-17:30

地点：励教楼C406

讲座内容提要：

Information is crucial in economic decision making and has been extensively used for policy purpose(e.g.nudges). However, as shown by many previous studies, providing more information does not always lead to better outcomes. In a field experiment we test how different information structures influence students' productivity. We implement several treatments(i.e.ranking information and/or publicity) randomly to determine how midterm grades are released to students. To our surprise, all treatments adversely affect the students' performance in their final examinations. With further analysis, we find that the information treatments have slightly positive but insignificant effects on better ranked students but cause much larger and statistically significant negative effects on lower ranked students. Survey data are then used to examine behavioral and attitude changes. Results show that students mistakenly shirk from studying due to the extra information they receive.