Public defence in Economics, MSc Jerry Montonen

Title of the thesis: Essays on the economics of social interactions

Doctoral student: Jerry Montonen

Opponent: Professor Jonas Vlachos, Stockholm University

Custos (Chairperson): Assistant Professor Ciprian Domnisoru, Aalto University

Social interactions between individuals happen everywhere in society, and they often have meaningful impacts on the participants. In this thesis, I study the economic consequences of three such interactions.

In the first essay, I examine how teachers influence their students' socio-emotional skills and the returns to these skills in the labour market. Using data from the education registry combined with personality test scores from the Finnish Defence Forces spanning several decades, I show that teachers are important for socio-emotional learning and that some teachers are more effective at it than others. Importantly, I also show that these skills have significant earnings premia on the labour market.

The second essay examines how peers at school influence a student’s future occupational choice. We find that schoolmates have a significant impact on the type of job a student ends up taking, and that the effect is largest for high-paying occupations such as medical professions and law.

In the last essay, I move from the education system and study social interactions in the workplace. In particular, we examine the earnings trajectories of workers who start and end romantic relationships with managers at their workplace. We find that starting a relationship with a workplace manager increases earnings by 6% relative to the control group, while breaking up with a manager reduces earnings by 18%. These relationships are also costly to the firm at large, as workplaces where relationships between managers and subordinates originate experience a 6 percentage point lower worker retention rate compared to similar workplaces where no such relationship exists.

Together, the essays increase the understanding of how social interactions in school and at the workplace affect economic outcomes. My research quantifies the economic importance of these interactions and adds evidence for decision makers interested in school policy and workplace regulation.

More information:

jerry.montonen@aalto.fi

https://sites.google.com/view/jerrymontonen/

Thesis available for public display 10 days prior to the defence at: https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/doc_public/eonly/riiputus/

Doctoral theses in the School of Business: https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/50