PhD thesis defence by Christina Hauser
This thesis comprises three independent essays on behavioral development economics, investigating the effects of randomised interventions on gender norms, education, and health choices.
The first chapter examines whether gifting is viewed as a socially acceptable way to mitigate gender discrimination in Islamic inheritance law in Tunisia. Using a randomised experiment, the author tests whether providing information on public support for inheritance law reform and the possibility to give gifts daughters influences inheritance-related gender attitudes. It finds that support for gender discrimination in inheritance remains high, yet gift-giving is accepted and commonly practiced by wealthier and more gender-progressive families. Treatment effects are mixed.
The second chapter, joint with Sule Alan, Kumar Biswas, and Shwetlena Sabarwal, evaluates the impact of a novel behavior management intervention in secondary schools in Bangladesh on student learning and teacher well-being. In the short term, the intervention significantly improves classroom social climate and test scores for high-ability students. However, the enhanced classroom climate and students’ academic gains do not translate into better teacher well-being. A follow-up study will assess whether these effects persist over time.
The third chapter, joint with Maleke Fourati, measures the impact of an expert-led organ donation awareness intervention on young adults’ attitudes toward organ donation and their donor status. We are conducting this study in Tunisia, in a context where general awareness of organ donation and institutional trust are low, and fear of organ trafficking is widespread. Accounting for the study participants’ social ties, we will furthermore map the spread of health-related information through social networks. This thesis contributes to the scholarship on the impact of informational and behavioral interventions in the context of human development in three key areas: gender norms, education and health.
The event will take place in hybrid mode.