IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jfamec/v41y2020i2d10.1007_s10834-019-09640-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Exploration of Gender Bias, Framing, and Student Loan Decisions Through an Experimental Design

Author

Listed:
  • Travis P. Mountain

    (Virginia Tech University)

  • Namhoon Kim

    (Korea Rural Economic Institute)

  • Michael S. Gutter

    (University of Florida)

  • Elizabeth Kiss

    (Kansas State University)

  • Soo Hyun Cho

    (California State University-Long Beach)

  • Carrie L. Johnson

    (North Dakota State University)

Abstract

As student loan debt is one of the fastest growing concerns for American households today, we need to understand the decision making behind student loan behavior to deal with the high student loan debt level properly. For this purpose, following a behavioral economics framework, we examine how variation in framing scenarios including gender bias, negative and positive framing, and aspiration for college degree framing, affects participant’s perceptions about the wisdom of using student loans and appropriate borrowing amounts. To analyze these framing affects, we obtained 1847 participants through an online survey describing a hypothetical student’s considerations related to attending college. We applied nonlinear regression with probit analysis and found that participants in the experiment had an implicit gender bias by recommending higher student loan debt for men than for women. However, additional information regarding the value of a college degree given in the female scenario encouraged them to take student loans and increase the amount of student loans.

Suggested Citation

  • Travis P. Mountain & Namhoon Kim & Michael S. Gutter & Elizabeth Kiss & Soo Hyun Cho & Carrie L. Johnson, 2020. "An Exploration of Gender Bias, Framing, and Student Loan Decisions Through an Experimental Design," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 350-363, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jfamec:v:41:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s10834-019-09640-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s10834-019-09640-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10834-019-09640-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10834-019-09640-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Elistina Abu Bakar & Jariah Masud & Zuroni Md Jusoh, 2006. "Knowledge, Attitude and Perceptions of University Students towards Educational Loans in Malaysia," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 692-701, December.
    2. Gregorio Caetano & Miguel Palacios & Harry A. Patrinos, 2019. "Measuring Aversion to Debt: An Experiment Among Student Loan Candidates," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 117-131, March.
    3. Gary S. Becker, 1994. "Human Capital Revisited," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Third Edition, pages 15-28, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Erica Field, 2009. "Educational Debt Burden and Career Choice: Evidence from a Financial Aid Experiment at NYU Law School," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 1-21, January.
    5. Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky, 2013. "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Leonard C MacLean & William T Ziemba (ed.), HANDBOOK OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING Part I, chapter 6, pages 99-127, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    6. Gordon C. Winston, 1999. "Subsidies, Hierarchy and Peers: The Awkward Economics of Higher Education," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 13-36, Winter.
    7. Gary S. Becker, 1994. "Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Third Edition," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck94-1, March.
    8. Gary S. Becker, 1962. "Investment in Human Capital: A Theoretical Analysis," NBER Chapters, in: Investment in Human Beings, pages 9-49, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Tansel Yilmazer, 2008. "Saving for Children’s College Education: An Empirical Analysis of the Trade-off Between the Quality and Quantity of Children," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 307-324, June.
    10. Stephanie Ewert, 2012. "Fewer Diplomas for Men: The Influence of College Experiences on the Gender Gap in College Graduation," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 83(6), pages 824-850, November.
    11. Renate Schubert, 1999. "Financial Decision-Making: Are Women Really More Risk-Averse?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 381-385, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hayward, Mathew & Cheng, Zhiming & Zhe Wang, Ben, 2022. "Disrupted education, underdogs and the propensity for entrepreneurship: Evidence from China’s sent-down youth program," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 33-39.
    2. Qiao Wen, 2022. "Estimating Education and Labor Market Consequences of China’s Higher Education Expansion," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-25, June.
    3. Robin Henager & Sophia T. Anong & Joyce Serido & Soyeon Shim, 2021. "Does Financial Satisfaction Vary Depending on the Funding Strategy Used to Pay for College?," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 429-448, September.
    4. Adam M. Lavecchia & Heidi Liu & Philip Oreopoulos, 2014. "Behavioral Economics of Education: Progress and Possibilities," NBER Working Papers 20609, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Colombo, Daniel Gama e, 2021. "Access to Graduate Education in Brazil: predictors of choice and enrollment in master’s degree programs," Revista Brasileira de Economia - RBE, EPGE Brazilian School of Economics and Finance - FGV EPGE (Brazil), vol. 75(2), September.
    6. Thomas Meissner & David Albrecht, 2022. "Debt Aversion: Theory and Measurement," Papers 2207.07538, arXiv.org, revised Jul 2022.
    7. Christian Grund & Dirk Sliwka, 2007. "Reference-Dependent Preferences and the Impact of Wage Increases on Job Satisfaction: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 163(2), pages 313-335, June.
    8. Damgaard, Mette Trier & Nielsen, Helena Skyt, 2018. "Nudging in education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 313-342.
    9. Grund, Christian & Sliwka, Dirk, 2001. "The Impact of Wage Increases on Job Satisfaction - Empirical Evidence and Theoretical Implications," IZA Discussion Papers 387, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Schmidt, Ulrich & Friedl, Andreas & Lima de Miranda, Katharina, 2015. "Social comparison and gender differences in risk taking," Kiel Working Papers 2011, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    11. Grund, Christian, 2011. "Job Preferences as Revealed by Employee Initiated Job Changes," IZA Discussion Papers 6127, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Gregorio Caetano & Miguel Palacios & Harry A. Patrinos, 2019. "Measuring Aversion to Debt: An Experiment Among Student Loan Candidates," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 117-131, March.
    13. Thomas Meissner, 2016. "Intertemporal consumption and debt aversion: an experimental study," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 19(2), pages 281-298, June.
    14. Lekfuangfu, Warn N., 2022. "Mortality risk, perception, and human capital investments: The legacy of landmines in Cambodia," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    15. Yasser Razak Hussain & Pranab Mukhopadhyay, 2023. "How Much do Education, Experience, and Social Networks Impact Earnings in India? A Panel Data Analysis Disaggregated by Class, Gender, Caste and Religion," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    16. Aduralere Opeyemi Oyelade & Onome Bright Oghenetega & Favour Eforuoku, 2020. "Labour Force Participation Rate and it Implications on Food Security, Fertility Rate and Economic Growth in West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) Countries," Business & Management Compass, University of Economics Varna, issue 4, pages 444-458.
    17. Schleich, Joachim & Gassmann, Xavier & Faure, Corinne & Meissner, Thomas, 2016. "Making the implicit explicit: A look inside the implicit discount rate," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 321-331.
    18. Juan Esteban Saavedra & Carlos Medina, 2012. "Formación para el Trabajo en Colombia," Documentos CEDE 10315, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    19. Pierre Levasseur & Luis Ortiz-Hernandez, 2017. "How does childhood obesity affect school achievement? Contributions from a qualitative analysis implemented in Mexico City," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2017-21, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    20. Molina-Domene, Maria, 2018. "Labor specialization as a source of market frictions," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 91703, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jfamec:v:41:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s10834-019-09640-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.