Why do parents socialize their children to behave pro-socially? An information-based theory

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Adriani, Fabrizio; Sonderegger, Silvia
• 署名单位: University of Bristol; University of London; University of London School Oriental & African Studies (SOAS)
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2009.08.001
• 发表日期: 2009
• 页码: 1119-1124
• 关键词: intergenerational transmission; signaling; VALUES

摘要

We present a model of intergenerational transmission of pro-social values in which parents have information about relevant characteristics of society that is not directly available to their children. Differently from existing models of cultural transmission of values (such as Bisin and Verdier, 2001; Tabellini, 2008) we assume that parents are exclusively concerned with their children's material welfare. If parents coordinate their educational choices, a child would look at her system of values to predict the values of her contemporaries, with whom she may interact. A parent may thus choose to instill pro-social values into his child in order to signal to her that others can generally be trusted. This implies that parents may optimally decide to endow their children with values that stand in contrast with maximization of material welfare, even if their children's material welfare is all they care about. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.