Essays on hope and economic development

Bhan, Prateek Chandra (2021) Essays on hope and economic development. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

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Abstract

This thesis aims to introduce the economics of hope in an attempt to study the role of hope in economic development. It pertains to offering experimental evidence on the measurement, malleability and significance of hope in the process of improving academic achievement of primary school students in India. The thesis comprises of six chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the concept of hope in the context of aspirations, internal constraints and education. Chapter 2 is a broad literature review underlining the need for treatment interventions that foster hope. Chapter 3 and 4 focus on the experimental set-up. Starting with the relationship between hope, effort and achievement, chapter 3 provides a theory of change and a proposition in which, hope increases effort. It also includes an exhaustive research protocol deviced to explain the data collection plan in the field. After discussing the theoretical underpinnings, Chapter 4 describes the research design and the empirical strategy employed to make causal inferences. In the process, I elaborate the survey instruments used to capture information on the various outcome variables, whilst stating the main hypothesis. Chapter 5 presents the main results of the Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT). Along with the available heterogeneity in the findings, pre-meditated robustness checks are also incorporated in this chapter. The results from chapter 5, their cost-effectiveness and implications on developmental policies are discussed in detail in Chapter 6. Potential extensions and the avenues of future research are also included in this chapter. It concludes by revisiting the main findings of the RCT and its contribution towards future developmental policy-making.

Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
Qualification Level: Doctoral
Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Economics
Supervisor's Name: Ghosal, Prof. Sayantan, Koutmeridis, Dr. Theodore and Schweisfurth, Prof. Michele
Date of Award: 2021
Depositing User: Theses Team
Unique ID: glathesis:2021-82717
Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
Date Deposited: 02 Mar 2022 16:32
Last Modified: 15 Nov 2022 16:06
Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.82717
URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/82717

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