Essays in Applied Microeconomics with a Focus on Gender Heterogeneity

Chen, Liqing

Essays in Applied Microeconomics with a Focus on Gender Heterogeneity

Chen, Liqing

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Publication Type:: Thesis
Issue Date:: 2025

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Chen, Liqing
dc.date.accessioned	2026-05-11T00:09:32Z
dc.date.available	2026-05-11T00:09:32Z
dc.date.issued	2025
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/194917
dc.description	University of Technology Sydney. Faculty of Business.	en_US.UTF-8
dc.description.abstract	This thesis comprises three empirical and experimental studies unified by an interest in how gender and socio-economic factors generate heterogeneous responses across education, family, and financial decision-making contexts. The first chapter examines how information about employer-valued non-cognitive skills affects university students’ skill perceptions, investment decisions, and job search behaviours through a randomised controlled trial. Although students generally possess accurate prior beliefs, the intervention lowers female students’ self-assessed employer evaluations, resulting in increased participation in career events and improved academic performance. Male students exhibit no change in perceived employer evaluations but commence job searches earlier. The second chapter investigates the causal effects of sibling gender on children’s non-cognitive development in Australia using longitudinal survey data. Having a brother, rather than a sister, significantly reduces hyperactivity and inattention problems for both boys and girls, while girls with brothers also exhibit higher levels of pro-social behaviour. The third chapter analyses how mental accounting and asymmetric frictions shape online gambling decisions. An experimental task simulating withdrawal barriers demonstrates that the introduction of non-pecuniary frictions leads participants to default to inaction by avoiding fund withdrawals, thereby heightening financial risk exposure. These effects are most pronounced among individuals with limited experience in gamblified investment activities and among older adults aged 50 and above. Collectively, the three chapters contribute to a deeper understanding of how information, social context, and choice architecture differentially influence skill development and economic behaviour across demographic groups.	en_US.UTF-8
dc.format	Thesis (PhD)
dc.language.iso	en_US	en_US.UTF-8
dc.relation	https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/194917/1/thesis.pdf
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.rights	The author owns the copyright in this thesis including all reproduction and reuse rights for the work. The work may not be altered without the permission of the copyright owner. Attribution is essential when quoting or paraphrasing from this thesis.
dc.rights	© 2025 Liqing Chen
dc.rights	au.edu.uts.lib/cph
dc.title	Essays in Applied Microeconomics with a Focus on Gender Heterogeneity	en_US.UTF-8
dc.type	Thesis
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*

Abstract:

This thesis comprises three empirical and experimental studies unified by an interest in how gender and socio-economic factors generate heterogeneous responses across education, family, and financial decision-making contexts. The first chapter examines how information about employer-valued non-cognitive skills affects university students’ skill perceptions, investment decisions, and job search behaviours through a randomised controlled trial. Although students generally possess accurate prior beliefs, the intervention lowers female students’ self-assessed employer evaluations, resulting in increased participation in career events and improved academic performance. Male students exhibit no change in perceived employer evaluations but commence job searches earlier. The second chapter investigates the causal effects of sibling gender on children’s non-cognitive development in Australia using longitudinal survey data. Having a brother, rather than a sister, significantly reduces hyperactivity and inattention problems for both boys and girls, while girls with brothers also exhibit higher levels of pro-social behaviour. The third chapter analyses how mental accounting and asymmetric frictions shape online gambling decisions. An experimental task simulating withdrawal barriers demonstrates that the introduction of non-pecuniary frictions leads participants to default to inaction by avoiding fund withdrawals, thereby heightening financial risk exposure. These effects are most pronounced among individuals with limited experience in gamblified investment activities and among older adults aged 50 and above. Collectively, the three chapters contribute to a deeper understanding of how information, social context, and choice architecture differentially influence skill development and economic behaviour across demographic groups.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/194917