PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Delavande, Adeline
AU  - Bono, Emilia Del
AU  - Holford, Angus
AU  - Sen, Sonkurt
AU  - Lesic, Vedran
TI  - Expectations about the Productivity of Effort and Academic Outcomes
AID  - 10.3368/jhr.0824-13737R2
DP  - 2026 Sep 09
TA  - Journal of Human Resources
PG  - 0824-13737R2
4099  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2026/09/01/jhr.0824-13737R2.short
4100  - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2026/09/01/jhr.0824-13737R2.full
AB  - We implement a randomized information intervention to enhance beliefs about the productivity of effort on a cohort of undergraduate students at a UK university. The intervention increases first-year exam grades and GPA, with an intention-to-treat effect of 0.10 of a standard deviation. The effects are larger for men, reducing the gender gap in academic achievement by a third. The data allow us to examine the mechanisms linking the intervention to outcomes, through changes in beliefs and academic inputs, as well as its longer-term effects. We replicate the main results at another UK university, highlighting the external validity of our findings.