15 October 2026 14:10

ETHAN CONNOR O’LEARY DEFENDED HIS PHD

On Friday 16 October, Ethan Connor O’Leary held a trial lecture on a prescribed topic and defended his thesis for the PhD degree at NHH.

Title of thesis

“Essays on the Behavioural Economics of Discrimination”

Why are some groups treated differently in job markets, competitions and everyday interactions, even when they are equally competent?

In his thesis, Ethan Connor O’Leary examines how discrimination emerges and persists across three different settings, combining economic theory with experimental research.

The first chapter explores how discrimination can persist when people misinterpret the reasons behind unequal treatment. Anticipating discrimination may lead otherwise similar groups to behave differently, making them appear unequal when evaluated. When these differences are mistaken for evidence of fixed bias, a cycle of discrimination can emerge that makes it harder to recognise mistaken beliefs and reduces support for anti-discrimination policies. The findings highlight the importance of how such policies are communicated to voters.

The second chapter examines how women's expectations of discrimination affect their willingness to compete. Using a large-scale online experiment, O’Leary finds that women become less willing to enter competitive hiring processes when their gender is visible to evaluators. This effect is strongest among less able candidates, reversing a pattern observed in competitions without evaluators, where less able women are typically more willing to compete.

The third chapter investigates trust between social groups in England, focusing on the longstanding economic divide between the North and South. Using an experimental approach, O’Leary finds that Northerners trust Southerners considerably less than members of their own group, while Southerners show similar levels of trust towards both groups. These findings have implications for debates about economic development policies in Northern England.

Together, the three chapters shed light on how expectations, perceptions and group identities shape discrimination, competition and trust.