Abstract

This thesis collects three independent essays. Two of them relate to experimental economics, and one to labor economics. The first essay explores through a laboratory experiment the relationship between cognitive costs and imitation dynamics. The second essay investigates in an experimental setting information aversion towards bad/good news about ones’ own condition, and tests the effect of the possibility of exerting effort, which may improve one’s own condition, on the willingness to acquire more detailed personal information. The third essay proposes an empirical application aiming at studying gender discrimination in a research context, and in particular whether the gender composition of evaluating commissions affects the hiring of women in research activities.