Summary

This PhD project will be a collection of several economic experiments. One in which we try to understand how to improve the non-cognitive skills of children and in another we aim to enhance the decision-making of groups. We conduct the largest study on the effects of music on non-cognitive skills of children so far. In a randomised controlled trial, we randomize 1000 children across approximately 20 schools into control and treatment groups and we analyse the effects of music on self-esteem, social preferences, grit, and personality traits. The second project is called the demand for (useless) communication. Employees spend a large amount of their time sitting in meetings, but how effective are these meetings for improving group decisions? And do people correctly value the usefulness of communication or are they too eager to talk and pay too much?