The talk will be delivered by Prof. Pushkar Maitra, Monash University

20 January, 2025, Bengaluru: The Office of Research and Publications (R&P) at IIM Bangalore will host a research seminar on, ‘Do status and identity shape adherence to advice?’, to be led by Prof. Pushkar Maitra, Monash University (Economics area), at 3 pm on 23 January 2025, at Classroom-P11.

Abstract: Many of the decisions people make are significantly shaped by advice from others. Despite this, limited research has explored whose advice people are more inclined to follow and how this influences social outcomes. In a lab-in-the-field survey experiment with approximately 3000 farmers in India, the researchers examine whether the status and identity of the advisor influences cooperative behavior. The findings indicate that the advisor's identity does not influence the likelihood of following advice when the advice promotes pro-social outcomes. However, identity does affect the willingness to follow advice when the advice has negative social consequences. Investigating mechanisms, the researchers find that women are more inclined to adopt the (selfish) equilibrium strategy when advised by men, while advisees are more likely to make socially sub-optimal choices if the advisor shares their caste identity. A natural experiment allows the researchers to separate the impact of status and identity and shows that previous exposure to role models neutralizes the influence of gender but accentuates the impact of caste identity. The researchers validate the generalizability of the results using data from an agricultural advisory program involving the same sample.

Speaker Profile: Pushkar Maitra is a Professor of Economics at Monash University. His areas of research interest include Development Economics, Applied Econometrics and Experimental Economics.

Webpage Link: https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/pushkar-maitra