The Agricultural Origins of Time Preference

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Galor, Oded; Ozak, Omer
• 署名单位: Brown University; Southern Methodist University
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0002-8282
• DOI: 10.1257/aer.20150020
• 发表日期: 2016
• 页码: 3064-3103
• 关键词: self-control; ECONOMIC-GROWTH; preschool delay; transmission; gratification; population; EVOLUTION; selection; CHOICE; VALUES

摘要

This research explores the origins of observed differences in time preference across countries and regions. Exploiting a natural experiment associated with the expansion of suitable crops for cultivation in the course of the Columbian Exchange, the research establishes that pre-industrial agro-climatic characteristics which were conducive to higher return to agricultural investment triggered selection, adaptation, and learning processes that generated a persistent positive effect on the prevalence of long-term orientation in the contemporary era. Furthermore, the research establishes that these agro-climatic characteristics have had a culturally embodied impact on economic behavior such as technological adoption, education, saving, and smoking.