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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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    6. Gust, Sarah & Hanushek, Eric A. & Woessmann, Ludger, 2024. "Global universal basic skills: Current deficits and implications for world development," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    7. Zullo, Matteo, 2022. "(No) Trade-off between numeracy and verbal reasoning development: PISA evidence from Italy's academic tracking," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    8. David L. Fuller & Guillaume Vandenbroucke, 2025. "Parents, Patience, and Persistence: A Novel Theory of Intergenerational College Attainment," Working Papers 2025-003, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, revised 27 Oct 2025.
    9. Maria Alejandra Cattaneo, 2024. "What wages do people expect for vocational and academic education backgrounds in Switzerland?," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 160(1), pages 1-16, December.
    10. David J. Deming & Mikko I. Silliman, 2024. "Skills and Human Capital in the Labor Market," NBER Working Papers 32908, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Kosfeld, Michael & Sharafi, Zahra & Sontag González, Maíra & Zou, Na, 2025. "Measuring Economic Preferences with Surveys and Behavioral Experiments," IZA Discussion Papers 17608, IZA Network @ LISER.
    12. Flavia Coda Moscarola & Daniela Del Boca & Giovanna Paladino, 2024. "Intergenerational Transmission of Preferences and Parental Behaviours," CESifo Working Paper Series 10902, CESifo.
    13. Silvia Angerer & Helena Antonie Baier & Daniela Glätzle-Rützler & Philipp Lergetporer & Thomas Rittmannsberger, 2024. "Economic Preferences Predict Covid-19 Vaccination Intentions and Behavior," CESifo Working Paper Series 11566, CESifo.
    14. 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).
    15. Sconti, Alessia & Caserta, Maurizio & Ferrante, Livio, 2024. "Gen Z and financial education: Evidence from a randomized control trial in the South of Italy," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    16. Thomas, Ranjeeta & Galizzi, Matteo M. & Moorhouse, Louisa & Nyamukapa, Constance & Hallett, Timothy B., 2024. "Do risk, time and prosocial preferences predict risky sexual behaviour of youths in a low-income, high-risk setting?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    17. Huber, Stefanie J. & Paule-Paludkiewicz, Hannah, 2024. "Gender norms and the gender gap in higher education," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    18. D'Haultfoeuille, Xavier & Gaillac, Christophe & Maurel, Arnaud, 2025. "Linear Regressions with Combined Data," IZA Discussion Papers 18276, IZA Network @ LISER.
    19. Grant, Charles, 2025. "Comparing the response of different education groups to predictable changes in income," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).

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