The Agricultural Origins of Time Preference

Abstract

This research explores the origins of the distribution of time preference across regions. It advances the hypothesis, and establishes empirically, that geographical variations in natural land productivity and their impact on the return to agricultural investment have had a persistent effect on the distribution of long-term orientation across societies. In particular, exploiting a natural experiment associated with the expansion of suitable crops for cultivation in the course of the Columbian Exchange, the research establishes that agro-climatic characteristics in the pre-industrial era that were conducive to higher return to agricultural investment, triggered selection and learning processes that had a persistent positive effect on the prevalence of long-term orientation in the contemporary era.

Parenting With Style: Altruism and Paternalism in Intergenerational Preference Transmission

“…However, it is easy to extend the model and show that when children are turned more risk averse, they may also reject risky lotteries with an upper tail, like entrepreneurial activities; see Doepke and Zilibotti (2013). 44 Studies of evolutionary forces shaping preference transmission and the growth process include Galor and Moav (2002), Galor and Michalopoulos (2012), and Galor and Özak (2016). high fitness, as it induces human capital accumulation, contributing to the economic success of paternalistic dynasties. In the application to risk preferences, parental paternalism reduces risk-taking and protects children from juvenile risk, but may also stifle entrepreneurship.…”

Like Father, Like Son: Inheriting and Bequeathing

“…More recently, however, Gori and Michetti (2016) and Kaneko et al (2016) not only show that these fluctuations disappear when endogenous fertility is considered, but also that it explains the observed decline of the fertility rate in developed economies. Finally, Galor and Oezak (2016) provide a well-documented example that inherited tastes do have persistent effects. They establish that changes, which occurred in the Columbian Exchange, help to explain contemporary economic behavior in different areas such as health, education and savings.…”

Forced Migration and Human Capital: Evidence from Post-WWII Population Transfers

“…7 Zhang (2018) documents systematic differences in preferences for competition among current Chinese high school students, depending on whether their grandparents or great-grandparents were exposed to state-imposed genderegalitarian policies in the 1950s. Going back many more generations, Galor and Özak (2016) document systematic variations in time preferences among present-day populations related to changes in agro-climatic conditions during the Columbian exchange, more than five centuries ago. 8 See the comprehensive discussions in Borjas (2014), Card and Peri (2016) and Dustmann, Schönberg, and Stuhler (2016) for short-run effects; for evidence of the long-run effects of migrants at their destinations see Hornung (2014), Peters (2017), and Murard and Sakalli (2018).…”