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Information Framing and Student Decisions: Evidence from an Opportunity Cost Intervention

Author

Listed:
  • Lars Behlen
  • Raphael Brade

  • Oliver Himmler
  • Robert Jäckle

Abstract

Opportunity costs are central to economic decision-making but often neglected. In a pre-registered experiment with 2,222 German university freshmen, one treatment provides salary information; another additionally frames it as the opportunity cost of delayed graduation. Only the opportunity cost framing causes students to update salary expectations. We find no effect on academic progress but a 2.8 percentage points increase in first-semester dropout (p=0.080), concentrated among high-dropout-probability students (5.9 pp, p=0.025). For these marginal students, dropping out instead of progressing faster is the actionable margin. By semester three, dropout rates converge, suggesting acceleration of eventual exits rather than additional dropouts.

Suggested Citation

  • Lars Behlen & Raphael Brade & Oliver Himmler & Robert Jäckle, 2026. "Information Framing and Student Decisions: Evidence from an Opportunity Cost Intervention," CESifo Working Paper Series 12487, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12487
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D84 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Expectations; Speculations
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions

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