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Patience, Risk-Taking, and Human Capital Investment Across Countries

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  • Eric A Hanushek
  • Lavinia Kinneifo
  • Philipp Lergetporer
  • Ludger Woessmann

Abstract

Patience and risk-taking—two preference components that steer intertemporal decision-making—are fundamental to human capital investment decisions. To understand how they contribute to international skill differences, we combine Programme for International Student Assessment tests with the Global Preference Survey. We find that opposing effects of patience (positive) and risk-taking (negative) together account for two-thirds of the cross-country variation in student skills. In an identification strategy addressing unobserved residence country features, we find similar results when assigning migrant students their country-of-origin preferences in models with residence country fixed effects. Associations of national preferences with family and school inputs suggest that both may act as channels.

Suggested Citation

  • Eric A Hanushek & Lavinia Kinneifo & Philipp Lergetporer & Ludger Woessmann, 2022. "Patience, Risk-Taking, and Human Capital Investment Across Countries," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(646), pages 2290-2307.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:econjl:v:132:y:2022:i:646:p:2290-2307.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/ej/ueab105
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Kammas, Pantelis & Litina, Anastasia & Palivos, Theodore, 2023. "The Role of Institutions on the Nexus between Inequality and Public Education," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 207(C), pages 529-540.
    2. Zullo, Matteo, 2022. "(No) Trade-off between numeracy and verbal reasoning development: PISA evidence from Italy's academic tracking," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    3. Angerer, Silvia & Bolvashenkova, Jana & Glätzle-Rützler, Daniela & Lergetporer, Philipp & Sutter, Matthias, 2023. "Children’s patience and school-track choices several years later: Linking experimental and field data," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    4. Flavia Coda Moscarola & Daniela Del Boca & Giovanna Paladino, 2024. "Intergenerational Transmission of Preferences and Parental Behaviours," CESifo Working Paper Series 10902, CESifo.

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