Interdisciplinary Impact in Economics
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ECOS 3997 Interdisciplinary Impact in Economics
Inequality and social policy (Stream 3)
Week 5: 24th of March
Topic: Guidance for final report
Class instructions
I If you are on ZOOM, you must use your USyd account to access the
lecture
I Please use your full name on ZOOM
I To avoid background noise, please mute yourself (unless you are
asking questions)
I Break: 10-min break around 5pm
I Asking questions. If you are on ZOOM, you can raise the hand icon,
or post your question on the chat. If you are in the classroom, please
raise your hand
I Try to attend the lecture live (ZOOM or in the classroom) as much as
possible
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Week 5 Outline
Context
Outcomes
Dataset
Report
General instructions & Marking criteria
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Week 5 Outline
Context
Outcomes
Dataset
Report
General instructions & Marking criteria
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Problem
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I Large and growing socioeconomic gaps among Greater Sydney
schools in adolescent educational and behavioural outcomes
I Recently, an article in the Guardian stated that in the last decade
we have seen an escalation of inequality between high and low
SES schools across Australia
Problem
I To address the problem, the NSW Department of Education
implemented a program aiming to empower adolescents in low SES
schools to shape their future, by promoting the development of
general capabilities that influence individual decisions and success
I Focus of the program was the development of self-control —key life
skill expected to influence adolescents’ behaviour and outcomes in
school and beyond
Interdisciplinary Impact in Economics Sem 1 2022 Week 5 5 / 59
Self-control
Self-control is the capacity to stay committed to long-term goals
when there is tension between effortful actions that enable them vs.
short-term pleasurable actions that are obstacles to long-term goals
(de Ridder et al., 2012).
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Self-control
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General agreement across behavioural sciences that self-control is the
most important general capability for success in life (Belsky et al.,
2020)
Credit:
https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2019/09/30/self-
control/cite
SC predicts:
I educational achievement,
I health,
I labour market outcomes,
I wealth,
I lower propensity to suffer
from addiction, engage in
delinquency and crime, etc.
(Moffitt et al., 2011; de Ridder et al.,
2012; Duckworth et al. 2019)
“Shaping my future” program
I Program developed to help Year 9 students (13-14 years old) in low
SES schools to build self-control
I 10 sessions during the academic year to help students:
1. build self-control using the WOOP (Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan)
approach
Interdisciplinary Impact in Economics Sem 1 2022 Week 5 8 / 59
“Shaping my future” program
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“Shaping my future” program
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“Shaping my future” program
I Program developed to help Year 9 students (13-14 years old) in low
SES schools to build self-control
I 10 sessions during the academic year to help adolescents:
1. build self-control using the WOOP (Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan)
method
2. adopt good habits to overcome lack of self-control (e.g. actively avoid
exposure to temptation)
3. build confidence in their ability to overcome obstacle and be in control
of their future
Interdisciplinary Impact in Economics Sem 1 2022 Week 5 11 / 59
“Shaping my future” program
I Program developed to help Year 9 students (13-14 years old) in low
SES schools to build self-control
I 10 sessions during the academic year to help adolescents:
1. build self-control using the WOOP (Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan)
method
2. adopt good habits to overcome lack of self-control (e.g. actively avoid
exposure to temptation)
3. build confidence in their ability to overcome obstacle and be in control
of their future
Interdisciplinary Impact in Economics Sem 1 2022 Week 5 11 / 59
“Shaping my future” program
I Program developed to help Year 9 students (13-14 years old) in low
SES schools to build self-control
I 10 sessions during the academic year to help adolescents:
1. build self-control using the WOOP (Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, Plan)
method
2. adopt good habits to overcome lack of self-control (e.g. actively avoid
exposure to temptation)
3. build confidence in their ability to overcome obstacle and be in control
of their future
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Program design & implementation
I Designed by a team of psychologists with expertise on adolescent
behaviour
I Delivered by volunteer Year 12 students from another school
I Implemented as a Randomised Controlled Trial
I 20 low SES schools in Greater Sydney were interested in taking part
in the program
I Of these 20 schools, 10 were randomly assigned to the treatment
group and received the program, remaining 10 schools were assigned
to the control group and did not receive the program
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Program design & implementation
I 10 high SES schools in Greater Sydney were also involved in the
study, to assess the effect of the program in closing the gap between
high and low SES schools
I Like the 10 control schools, these 10 high SES schools did not receive
the program
I The Department of Education collected the same data on the high
SES schools as the data collected on the 10 treatment and 10 control
low SES schools
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Week 5 Outline
Context
Outcomes
Dataset
Report
General instructions & Marking criteria
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Adolescent outcomes
Measured before the program
I Survey-based measurement of self-control
I School attendance in Year 8
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Adolescent outcomes
Measured 3 years after the program
I Self-control
I School attendance
I Year 12 graduation rates
I ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank)
I Risky behaviour
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Adolescent outcomes
Measured 3 years after the program
I Self-control
I School attendance
I Year 12 graduation rates
I ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank)
I Risky behaviour
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Measurement of Self-control
1. Survey-based measurement
2. Experimental or choice-based measurement
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Measurement of Self-control
1. Survey-based measurement
2. Experimental or choice-based measurement
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Survey-based measurement
Adolescents state the extent to which each statement describes their
behaviour in the past 4 weeks, on a scale from 1 to 5, where 1 indicates
never and 5 indicates always
1. I pause and think about the future consequences of my behaviour before
acting.
2. I set personal goals and I am able to stick to them.
3. I able to resist temptations.
4. I have a high level of self-discipline.
5. I can stop myself from doing things that are fun in the moment, but might
have negative consequences for me in the future.
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Survey-based measurement
Self-control Index:
SC index = q1 + q2 + q3 + q4 + d5− 5
I Varies between 0 and 20
I A higher score indicates higher self-control → 0 indicates no
self-control and 20 indicates perfect self-control
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Measurement of Self-control
1. Survey-based measurement
2. Experimental or choice-based measurement
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Experimental measurement
Attention-focus task in the presence of temptation
1. Adolescents have to focus their attention on a number displayed in
the computer screen, which changes every few seconds
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Experimental measurement
178
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Experimental measurement
693
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Experimental measurement
532
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Experimental measurement
Attention-focus task in the presence of temptation
1. Adolescents have to focus their attention on a number displayed in
the computer screen, which changes every few seconds
2. Task lasts 1.5 hours
3. At several and random points in time during the task, students are
asked to indicate the last number they saw
If the answer is right, they get $2; if it’s wrong, they get nothing
Interdisciplinary Impact in Economics Sem 1 2022 Week 5 27 / 59
Experimental measurement
Attention-focus task in the presence of temptation
1. Adolescents have to focus their attention on a number displayed in
the computer screen, which changes every few seconds
2. Task lasts 1.5 hours
3. At several and random points in time during the task, students are
asked to indicate the last number they saw
If the answer is right, they get $2; if it’s wrong, they get nothing
Interdisciplinary Impact in Economics Sem 1 2022 Week 5 27 / 59
Experimental measurement
Attention-focus task in the presence of temptation
1. Adolescents have to focus their attention on a number displayed in
the computer screen, which changes every few seconds
2. Task lasts 1.5 hours
3. At several and random points in time during the task, students are
asked to indicate the last number they saw
If the answer is right, they get $2; if it’s wrong, they get nothing
Interdisciplinary Impact in Economics Sem 1 2022 Week 5 27 / 59
483
729
Enter the last number displayed on the screen in the box below:
Experimental measurement
Attention-focus task in the presence of temptation
1. Adolescents have to focus their attention on a number displayed in
the computer screen, which changes every few seconds
2. Task lasts 1.5 hours
3. At several and random points in time during the task, students are
asked to indicate the last number they saw
If the answer is right, they get $2; if it’s wrong, they get nothing
4. During the task, students see a small button on their screen which
allows them to take a break and access social media sites, play video
games, watch podcasts, etc (i.e., procrastinate)
Interdisciplinary Impact in Economics Sem 1 2022 Week 5 28 / 59
Experimental measurement
Attention-focus task in the presence of temptation
1. Adolescents have to focus their attention on a number displayed in
the computer screen, which changes every few seconds
2. Task lasts 1.5 hours
3. At several and random points in time during the task, students are
asked to indicate the last number they saw
If the answer is right, they get $2; if it’s wrong, they get nothing
4. During the task, students see a small button on their screen which
allows them to take a break and access social media sites, play video
games, watch podcasts, etc (i.e., procrastinate)
Interdisciplinary Impact in Economics Sem 1 2022 Week 5 28 / 59
198
476
Do you want to take a break now?
Yes No
Experimental measurement
Attention-focus task in the presence of temptation
1. Adolescents have to focus their attention on a number displayed in
the computer screen, which changes every few seconds
2. Task lasts 1.5 hours
3. At several and random points in time during the task, students are
asked to indicate the last number they saw
If the answer is right, they get $2; if it’s wrong, they get nothing
4. During the task, students see a small button on their screen which
allows them to take a break and access social media sites, play video
games, watch podcasts, etc (i.e., procrastinate)
5. Trade-off between browsing the web and keeping focus on the task:
when browsing the web, they miss out on the chance to earn money
(by giving a correct answer to the questions on the task)
Interdisciplinary Impact in Economics Sem 1 2022 Week 5 29 / 59
Experimental measurement
Attention-focus task in the presence of temptation
1. Adolescents have to focus their attention on a number displayed in
the computer screen, which changes every few seconds
2. Task lasts 1.5 hours
3. At several and random points in time during the task, students are
asked to indicate the last number they saw
If the answer is right, they get $2; if it’s wrong, they get nothing
4. During the task, students see a small button on their screen which
allows them to take a break and access social media sites, play video
games, watch podcasts, etc (i.e., procrastinate)
5. Trade-off between browsing the web and keeping focus on the task:
when browsing the web, they miss out on the chance to earn money
(by giving a correct answer to the questions on the task)
Interdisciplinary Impact in Economics Sem 1 2022 Week 5 29 / 59
Experimental measurement
I Before starting to work on the task, adolescents had to choose under
which condition they would work.
I Options:
1. Commitment by removing temptation: remove the option to
access the internet for the entire work period
2. Temptation: keep the option to access the internet and decide while
working on the task whether and when to access the internet
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Experimental measurement
Under which condition do they actually work?
I 1 out of 6 chance, adolescent works on the task under their chosen
condition (1 or 2, depending on their choice)
I 5 out of 6 chance, adolescent works under temptation
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Experimental measurement
Why this procedure? Why can’t adolescents simply work under the
condition they have chosen? If most adolescents work under temptation
anyway, why do we ask them to choose what they want?
Several reasons:
I We want most adolescents to work under temptation because we
want to observe how they behave when they face temptation. Can
they resist or do they give in?
I We want to know what they would have done if they could freely
choose. This is why we ask them to make the choice, before the
rolling the dice, to learn about their preference.
I Choices are consequential, because there is a chance (1 out of 6) that
they work under their preferred condition —have an incentive to
choose their preferred option, as if their choice was deterministic
Interdisciplinary Impact in Economics Sem 1 2022 Week 5 32 / 59
Experimental measurement
Why this procedure? Why can’t adolescents simply work under the
condition they have chosen? If most adolescents work under temptation
anyway, why do we ask them to choose what they want?
Several reasons:
I We want most adolescents to work under temptation because we
want to observe how they behave when they face temptation. Can
they resist or do they give in?
I We want to know what they would have done if they could freely
choose. This is why we ask them to make the choice, before the
rolling the dice, to learn about their preference.
I Choices are consequential, because there is a chance (1 out of 6) that
they work under their preferred condition —have an incentive to
choose their preferred option, as if their choice was deterministic
Interdisciplinary Impact in Economics Sem 1 2022 Week 5 32 / 59
Experimental measurement
Why this procedure? Why can’t adolescents simply work under the
condition they have chosen? If most adolescents work under temptation
anyway, why do we ask them to choose what they want?
Several reasons:
I We want most adolescents to work under temptation because we
want to observe how they behave when they face temptation. Can
they resist or do they give in?
I We want to know what they would have done if they could freely
choose. This is why we ask them to make the choice, before the
rolling the dice, to learn about their preference.
I Choices are consequential, because there is a chance (1 out of 6) that
they work under their preferred condition —have an incentive to
choose their preferred option, as if their choice was deterministic
Interdisciplinary Impact in Economics Sem 1 2022 Week 5 32 / 59
Experimental measurement
Why this procedure? Why can’t adolescents simply work under the
condition they have chosen? If most adolescents work under temptation
anyway, why do we ask them to choose what they want?
Several reasons:
I We want most adolescents to work under temptation because we
want to observe how they behave when they face temptation. Can
they resist or do they give in?
I We want to know what they would have done if they could freely
choose. This is why we ask them to make the choice, before the
rolling the dice, to learn about their preference.
I Choices are consequential, because there is a chance (1 out of 6) that
they work under their preferred condition —have an incentive to
choose their preferred option, as if their choice was deterministic
Interdisciplinary Impact in Economics Sem 1 2022 Week 5 32 / 59
Experimental measurement
Attention-focus task in the presence of temptation
1. Yields a measure of self-control: number of minutes the adolescent
spends working on the task
I Varies between 0 and 90 minutes
I A higher value indicates greater self-control
2. Yields a measure of whether the adolescent actively removes
temptation, indicating awareness of their future behaviour if working
under temptation
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Adolescent outcomes
Measured 3 years after the program
I Self-control
I School attendance
I ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank)
I Year 12 graduation rates
I Risky behaviour
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Adolescent educational outcomes
1. School attendance
I Percentage of the days the adolescent attended school
2. ATAR
I Adolescent’s rank based on their school and HSC exam grades among
all Year 12 students in NSW
3. Year 12 graduation rate
I Whether the adolescent graduated from high school in the expected
graduation year
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Adolescent outcomes
Measured 3 years after the program
I Self-control
I School attendance
I ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank)
I Year 12 graduation rates
I Risky behaviour
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Adolescent risky & antisocial behaviour
Adolescent indicates the number of questions to which the answer is
yes.
Thinking about the last 6 months, did you
1. drive a car while under the influence of alcohol or drugs?
2. have more than 5 alcohol drinks in one sitting (within 2 hours or less)?
3. consume marijuana?
4. gamble more money than you could afford to lose?
5. have unprotected sex (without intending a pregnancy)?
6. get into a physical fight?
7. steal something from a shop or someone?
8. bully others at schools or on social media?
9. run away from home and stayed away overnight or longer?
10. purposely damaged or destroyed others’ property?
I Index of risky & antisocial behaviour takes a value between 0 and 10
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Week 5 Outline
Context
Outcomes
Dataset
Report
General instructions & Marking criteria
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Sample
Low SES school High SES school
Received the program 2,116 0
Didn’t receive the program 2,319 2,251
Total 4,435 2,251
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Variable list
Treatment assignment and school type
treatment takes value 1 (yes) if the adolescent is in a school
that received the program and 0 (no) otherwise
school ses takes value 1 if the adolescent is in a low SES school
and 0 if the adolescent is in a high SES school
Pre-program adolescent outcomes
y8attendance school attendance rate in Year 8
y9selfcontrolsurvey self-control score in self-reported survey in Year 9
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Variable list
Post-program adolescent outcomes
dropout takes value 1 (yes) if the adolescent dropped out of
high school before Year 12 and 0 (no) otherwise
y12selfcontrolsurvey self-control score in self-reported survey in Year 12
y12selfcontrol commitment takes value 1 (yes) if the adolescent chose commit-
ment in the self-control experimental task and 0 (no)
if (s)he chose temptation