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Essays in applied microeconomics
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Demirci, Ozge (2022) Essays in applied microeconomics. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.
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Official URL: http://webcat.warwick.ac.uk/record=b3912296
Abstract
This thesis consists of three essays on applied microeconomics, and it explores the various topics in digitization and discrimination, as summarized below. Chapter 1 uses a natural experiment to investigate the impact of gender-blind algorithmic pricing on consumers and firms. I focus on a recent policy change in California that prohibits using gender information in pricing algorithms for automobile insurance. I investigate how this policy affects the difference in the insurance premiums paid by male and female drivers and the pricing algorithms companies use. I find that the ban reduced the gender gap in the insurance premiums paid by young drivers by around 65 percent, but it failed to eliminate it completely. My analysis of the pricing algorithm of a large insurance company in California indicates that algorithms are adjusted, so that gender proxies receive larger weights after the policy. Chapter 2 focuses on statistical discrimination based on country of origin in online labor markets. I study the wage gap between freelancers from high-income and developing countries in an online freelancing platform and explain the mechanisms driving this gap. I find that freelancers from developing countries earn 22 percent less than freelancers from high-income countries after controlling for the job and country-specific characteristics. However, the penalty on wages decreases as contractors provide information about themselves over time. Experience, reputation scores, and more information on previous earnings or standardized test scores benefit freelancers from developing countries more. Chapter 3 explores the impact of online lectures on student behavior. I study the impact of online access to recorded lectures on student performance, attendance, and satisfaction. I use a difference-in-differences strategy by exploiting the staggered implementation of the recorded lecture system in different courses in a top UK university. I find that online lectures decrease the performance gap between native and non-native speakers significantly, and they increase the achievement of high-performer students and decrease it for low-performers. Furthermore, they reduce attendance to the main lectures and have no statistically significant impact on student satisfaction.
Item Type: | Thesis (PhD) | ||||
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Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HF Commerce |
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Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Microeconomics, Pricing, Insurance premiums -- Costs, Algorithms, Labor market -- Statistical methods, Wage differentials | ||||
Official Date: | December 2022 | ||||
Dates: |
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Institution: | University of Warwick | ||||
Theses Department: | Departments of Economics | ||||
Thesis Type: | PhD | ||||
Publication Status: | Unpublished | ||||
Supervisor(s)/Advisor: | Draca, Mirco ; Bagues, Manuel ; Gazze, Ludovica | ||||
Format of File: | |||||
Extent: | xii, 67, 30, 25 pages : charts | ||||
Language: | eng |
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