Economics Seminar（2016-18）

Topic: China's Lost Generation: Changes in Beliefs and heir Intergenerational Transmission

Speaker: David Y. Yang, Stanford University

Time: Tuesday, November 22, 14:00-15:30

Place: Room 217, Guanghua Building 2

Abstract:

Beliefs about whether effort pays off govern some of the most fundamental choices individ-ual make. This paper uses China’s Cultural Revolution to understand how these beliefs can be affected, how they impact behaviors, and how they are transmitted across generations. During the Cultural Revolution, China’s college admission system based on entrance exams was suspended for a decade until 1976, effectively depriving an entire generation of young people of the opportunity to access higher education (the “lost generation”). Using data from a nationally representative survey, we employ a pseudo-RD design to compare cohorts who graduated from high school just before and after the college entrance exam was resumed. We find that members of the “lost generation” who missed out on college because they were born just a year or two too early believe that effort pays off to a much lesser degree, even 40 years into their adulthood. However, they invested more in their children’s education, and transmitted less of such changed beliefs to the next generation, suggesting attempts to safeguard their children from sharing their misfortunes.

Introduction:

David Y. Yang is a PhD candidate in economics at Stanford University. He received B.A. in statistics and B.S. in business administration from University of California, Berkeley. His research interests center on political economy, behavioral and experimental economics, and culture economics.

Your participation is warmly welcomed!