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Spatial Patterns in the Formation of Economic Preferences

Author

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  • Shyamal Chowdhury
  • Manuela Puente-Beccar
  • Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch
  • Sebastian O. Schneider
  • Matthias Sutter

Abstract

We investigate how strongly the local environment beyond the family can contribute to understanding the formation of children's economic preferences. Building on precise geolocation data for around 6.000 children, we use fixed effects, spatial autoregressive models and Kriging to capture the relation between the local environment and children's preferences. The spatial models explain a considerable part of so far unexplained variation in preferences. Moreover, the "spatial stability" of preferences exceeds the village level. Our results highlight the importance of the local environment for the formation of children's preferences, which we quantify to be as large as that of parental preferences.

Suggested Citation

  • Shyamal Chowdhury & Manuela Puente-Beccar & Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch & Sebastian O. Schneider & Matthias Sutter, 2025. "Spatial Patterns in the Formation of Economic Preferences," CESifo Working Paper Series 12001, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12001
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    JEL classification:

    • D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
    • C99 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Other

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