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Recession Experiences during Early Adulthood Shape Prosocial Attitudes Later in Life

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  • Bietenbeck, Jan

    (Lund University)

  • Sunde, Uwe

    (University of Munich)

  • Thiemann, Petra

    (Lund University)

Abstract

This paper explores whether the experience of a severe recession during early adulthood shapes individuals' prosocial attitudes. The analysis uses survey responses to experimentally validated questions that measure prosocial attitudes for approximately 65,000 respondents in 75 countries. The identification approach exploits variation in recession experiences across 78 different birth cohorts. We find that exposure to a recession during early adulthood is associated with lower levels of prosociality later in life. The effect only emerges for experiences during impressionable years (age 18–25), mainly affects prosocial attitudes among men, and is orthogonal to the effect of experiences with democracy.

Suggested Citation

  • Bietenbeck, Jan & Sunde, Uwe & Thiemann, Petra, 2023. "Recession Experiences during Early Adulthood Shape Prosocial Attitudes Later in Life," IZA Discussion Papers 16490, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16490
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    prosocial attitudes; impressionable years; experience effects; cohort effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • E30 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • E71 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on the Macro Economy

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