IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/beh/jbepv1/v8y2024is2p9-18.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Is Trust a Driver of Patience? A Cross - Country Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Florens C. Pfann

    (Department of Finance, SBE, Maastricht University, The Netherlands)

  • Gerard A. Pfann

    (SBE, Maastricht University; ASE, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands & SOFI, Stockholm University, Sweden)

Abstract

This paper finds that a one standard deviation increase in the variation of Trust leads to an increase of 10 percent of variation in Patience. This result is based on survey responses among 80,000 individuals across a wide range of different countries. Heterogeneity and endogeneity bias initially lead to correlational insignificance and under-estimation. We explain how unbiased estimation of this behavioral effect can be obtained by means of inventive search for controls and instrumental variables, and with appropriate econometric analysis of the collected data. The policy implication of our results is that generating and maintaining a trustful national environment is fundamental to encourage patience and other economy enhancing behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Florens C. Pfann & Gerard A. Pfann, 2024. "Is Trust a Driver of Patience? A Cross - Country Analysis," Journal of Behavioral Economics for Policy, Society for the Advancement of Behavioral Economics (SABE), vol. 8(S2), pages 9-18, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:beh:jbepv1:v:8:y:2024:i:s2:p:9-18
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://sabeconomics.org/journal/RePEc/beh/JBEPv1/articles/JBEP-8-S2-1.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Armin Falk & Anke Becker & Thomas Dohmen & Benjamin Enke & David B. Huffman & Uwe Sunde, 2017. "Global Evidence on Economic Preferences," NBER Working Papers 23943, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Florens Pfann & Gerard Pfann, 2024. "Can trust explain patience? A cross-country analysis," French Stata Users' Group Meetings 2024 02, Stata Users Group.
    3. Oded Galor & Ömer Özak, 2016. "The Agricultural Origins of Time Preference," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(10), pages 3064-3103, October.
    4. Quamrul Ashraf & Oded Galor, 2013. "Genetic Diversity and the Origins of Cultural Fragmentation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(3), pages 528-533, May.
    5. Thaler, Richard, 1981. "Some empirical evidence on dynamic inconsistency," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 201-207.
    6. Luigi Guiso & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2009. "Cultural Biases in Economic Exchange?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(3), pages 1095-1131.
    7. Sascha O. Becker & Katrin Boeckh & Christa Hainz & Ludger Woessmann, 2016. "The Empire Is Dead, Long Live the Empire! Long‐Run Persistence of Trust and Corruption in the Bureaucracy," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(590), pages 40-74, February.
    8. Armin Falk & Anke Becker & Thomas Dohmen & Benjamin Enke & David Huffman & Uwe Sunde, 2018. "Global Evidence on Economic Preferences," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(4), pages 1645-1692.
    9. Séverine Toussaert, 2018. "Eliciting Temptation and Self†Control Through Menu Choices: A Lab Experiment," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 86(3), pages 859-889, May.
    10. Hübner, Malte & Vannoorenberghe, Gonzague, 2015. "Patience and long-run growth," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 163-167.
    11. Alberto Alesina & Eliana La Ferrara, 2003. "Ethnic Diversity and Economic Performance," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 2028, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research.
    12. Sule Alan & Seda Ertac, 2018. "Fostering Patience in the Classroom: Results from Randomized Educational Intervention," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 126(5), pages 1865-1911.
    13. Enrico Spolaore & Romain Wacziarg, 2018. "Ancestry and development: New evidence," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(5), pages 748-762, August.
    14. Nathan Nunn & Nancy Qian, 2010. "The Columbian Exchange: A History of Disease, Food, and Ideas," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 24(2), pages 163-188, Spring.
    15. Philip Oreopoulos & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2011. "Priceless: The Nonpecuniary Benefits of Schooling," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 25(1), pages 159-184, Winter.
    16. George F. Loewenstein, 1988. "Frames of Mind in Intertemporal Choice," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 34(2), pages 200-214, February.
    17. Robert M. Solow, 1956. "A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 70(1), pages 65-94.
    18. Jonathan Cohen & Keith Marzilli Ericson & David Laibson & John Myles White, 2020. "Measuring Time Preferences," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 58(2), pages 299-347, June.
    19. Stelios Michalopoulos, 2012. "The Origins of Ethnolinguistic Diversity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(4), pages 1508-1539, June.
    20. Brülhart, Marius & Usunier, Jean-Claude, 2012. "Does the trust game measure trust?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 20-23.
    21. Toussaert, Séverine, 2018. "Eliciting temptation and self-control through menu choices: a lab experiment," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 88107, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Florens Pfann & Gerard Pfann, 2024. "Can trust explain patience? A cross-country analysis," French Stata Users' Group Meetings 2024 02, Stata Users Group.
    2. Sutanuka Roy & Sudhir Gupta & Rabee Tourky, 2023. "The Impact of Long–Term Orientation Traits on Pandemic Fatigue Behavior: Evidence from the Columbian Exchange," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 28(3), pages 397-438, September.
    3. Benos, Nikos & Kammas, Pantelis, 2023. "The effect of ethnic diversity on the participation in social groups: Evidence from trade unions," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    4. Obradovich, Nick & Özak, Ömer & Martín, Ignacio & Ortuño-Ortín, Ignacio & Awad, Edmond & Cebrián, Manuel & Cuevas, Rubén & Desmet, Klaus & Rahwan, Iyad & Cuevas, Ángel, 2020. "Expanding the measurement of culture with a sample of two billion humans," SocArXiv qkf42, Center for Open Science.
    5. Areendam Chanda & Bulent Unel, 2021. "Do attitudes toward risk taking affect entrepreneurship? Evidence from second-generation Americans," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 26(4), pages 385-413, December.
    6. Daniel Horn & Hubert Kiss Janos & Sára Khayouti, 2020. "Patient democracies?," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 2012, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    7. Cemal Eren Arbatlı & Quamrul H. Ashraf & Oded Galor & Marc Klemp, 2020. "Diversity and Conflict," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(2), pages 727-797, March.
    8. Oded Galor & Omer Ozak & Assaf Sarid, 2016. "Origins and Consequences of Lanquage Structures," Working Papers 2016-7, Brown University, Department of Economics.
    9. Brenøe, Anne Ardila & Epper, Thomas, 2022. "Parenting values and the intergenerational transmission of time preferences," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    10. Fonseca, Luís & Nikalexi, Katerina & Papaioannou, Elias, 2023. "The globalization of corporate control," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    11. Depetris-Chauvin, Emilio & Özak, Ömer, 2019. "Borderline Disorder: (De facto) Historical Ethnic Borders and Contemporary Conflict in Africa," MPRA Paper 110197, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Sep 2021.
    12. Oasis Kodila‐Tedika & Sherif Khalifa, 2020. "Long‐term vision and economic development," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(11), pages 3088-3102, November.
    13. Glätzle-Rützler, Daniela & Lergetporer, Philipp & Sutter, Matthias, 2021. "Collective intertemporal decisions and heterogeneity in groups," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 131-147.
    14. Burro, Giovanni & McDonald, Rebecca & Read, Daniel & Taj, Umar, 2022. "Patience decreases with age for the poor but not for the rich: an international comparison," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 596-621.
    15. Joseph Flavian Gomes, 2020. "The health costs of ethnic distance: evidence from sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 195-226, June.
    16. Delis, Manthos D. & Dioikitopoulos, Evangelos V. & Ongena, Steven, 2023. "Population diversity and financial risk-taking," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    17. Anna Valero, 2021. "Education and economic growth," CEP Discussion Papers dp1764, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    18. Nieminen, Mika, 2022. "Cross-country variation in patience, persistent current account imbalances and the external wealth of nations," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    19. Mariko Nakagawa & Shonosuke Sugasawa, 2022. "Linguistic distance and economic development: A cross‐country analysis," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 793-834, May.
    20. Andrew Dickens, 2022. "Understanding Ethnolinguistic Differences: The Roles of Geography and Trade," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(643), pages 953-980.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:beh:jbepv1:v:8:y:2024:i:s2:p:9-18. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SABE (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/sabeeea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.