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• Childhood exposure to violent conflict has lasting impact on social preferences. • Males and females have strikingly contrasting responses to more intense exposure. • Females become pro-social – higher trust, trustworthiness, public good contribution. • Males become anti-social – tendency to destroy other participants' money. • Age of exposure and intensity of riots are predictors of stronger impacts. We examine gender differences in the long-term impact of childhood exposure to violent conflict on a range of behavioral traits by conducting a large-scale field experiment in the Indian state of Assam, which witnessed fatal ethnic riots in the early 1980s. We exploit an individual's geographic location and age at exposure to riots to examine the effects of varied exposure to violent conflict during childhood and early adolescence on their pro- and antisocial behavior, as well as their risk and time preferences. The results suggest that, as the intensity of exposure to riots during childhood increases, females show more prosocial behavior, whereas males demonstrate a higher degree of antisocial behavior. Our study offers important insights into the divergent effects of conflict by gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Patients statistically discriminate doctors by gender in an experiment in India • Caste quotas for college seats increase gender discrimination of low-caste doctors • Caste quotas for college seats reduce gender discrimination of high-caste doctors • Caste quotas for college seats worsen overall gender inequality of professionals Using a field experiment in India where patients are randomly assigned to rank among a set of physicians of the same gender but with different castes and years of experience, we show that the differences in patients' physician choices are consistent with gender-based statistical discrimination. Labor market experience cannot easily overcome the discrimination that female doctors suffer. Further, we find that gender discrimination is greater for lower caste doctors, who typically suffer from caste discrimination. Given the increasing share of professionals from a lower caste background, our results suggest that the 'intersectionality' between gender and caste leads to increased gender inequality among professionals in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conduct an experiment to examine gender bias in intra-household decision-making in rural Bangladesh. The experiment mimics a real-life scenario, in which a risky choice with high stakes is offered to either spouse and he/she then has to decide whether to make the decision or transfer it to the other spouse. We then observe the decision-making process under alternative experimental conditions to determine intra-household gender bias. We find that women are more likely to allow their spouses to make decisions than men are. Our findings suggest that women's transfer decisions are driven by asymmetries in both power and perceived financial capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We study the effects of random dormitory assignment. • We find that peer ability effects are around one-third of one's own ability. • High-ability students gain more from higher-ability peers. • Assortative matching on ability but asymmetric matching on background works better. We study the effect of random dormitory assignment in a tertiary level educational institution in India on students' subsequent academic achievements. We examine the importance of interactions between the characteristics of the student and his peers for educational outcomes, including non-linear peer-effects and the importance of different socio-economic and geographical backgrounds. We find that peer ability effects are around one-third the size of the effects of one's own ability, and students from non-urban and non-English backgrounds do particularly better when assigned to higher-ability peers. We find that all groups of ability students gain from being matched to high-ability peers, but that this gain is highest for students who are themselves of higher-ability. Our results suggest peer effects are stronger in the first year in dorm. In terms of mechanisms, we find no evidence for effects of peers via mental health, life satisfaction, or risk attitudes. We observe that a roommate's study times is highly correlated with a student's own study times, but we see only a weak positive association between study habits and grades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]