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Parental Investment and the Intergenerational Transmission of Economic Preferences and Attitudes

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  • Zumbühl, Maria

    (University of Bern)

  • Dohmen, Thomas

    (University of Bonn and IZA)

  • Pfann, Gerard A.

    (Maastricht University)

Abstract

We study empirically whether there is scope for parents to shape the economic preferences and attitudes of their children through purposeful investments. We exploit information on the risk and trust attitudes of parents and their children, as well as rich information about parental efforts in the upbringing of their children from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study. Our results show that parents who invest more in the upbringing of their children are more similar to them with respect to risk and trust attitudes and thus transmit their own attitudes more strongly. The results are robust to including variables on the relationship between children and parents, family size, and the parents' socioeconomic background.

Suggested Citation

  • Zumbühl, Maria & Dohmen, Thomas & Pfann, Gerard A., 2013. "Parental Investment and the Intergenerational Transmission of Economic Preferences and Attitudes," IZA Discussion Papers 7476, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp7476
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    Cited by:

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    3. Lucks, Konstantin E. & Lührmann, Melanie & Winter, Joachim, 2020. "Assortative matching and social interaction: A field experiment on adolescents’ risky choices," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 313-340.
    4. Fabian Kosse & Thomas Deckers & Pia Pinger & Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch & Armin Falk, 2020. "The Formation of Prosociality: Causal Evidence on the Role of Social Environment," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(2), pages 434-467.
    5. Brouwer, Thijs, 2021. "Essays on behavioral responses to dishonest and anti-social decision making," Other publications TiSEM 24873bbf-72cf-4c69-bc0b-9, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    6. Dahmann, Sarah & Anger, Silke, 2014. "The impact of education on personality : evidence from a German high school reform," IAB-Discussion Paper 201429, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    7. Michael Wyrwich, 2015. "Entrepreneurship and the intergenerational transmission of values," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 191-213, June.
    8. Della Giusta, Marina & Di Girolamo, Amalia, 2018. "Have your cake and eat it too: real effort and risk aversion in schoolchildren," MPRA Paper 89528, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Andra C. Ghent & Marianna Kudlyak, 2015. "Intergenerational Linkages in Household Credit," Working Paper 15-14, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
    10. Boll, Christina & Hoffmann, Malte, 2015. "It's not all about parents' education, it also matters what they do: Parents' employment and children's school success in Germany," HWWI Research Papers 162, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI).
    11. Alan, Sule & Baydar, Nazli & Boneva, Teodora & Crossley, Thomas F. & Ertac, Seda, 2017. "Transmission of risk preferences from mothers to daughters," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 60-77.
    12. Huebener, Mathias, 2015. "The role of paternal risk attitudes in long-run education outcomes and intergenerational mobility," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 64-79.
    13. Tim Friehe & Markus Pannenberg, 2020. "Time preferences and political regimes: evidence from reunified Germany," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(1), pages 349-387, January.
    14. Matthias Doepke & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2017. "Parenting With Style: Altruism and Paternalism in Intergenerational Preference Transmission," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 85, pages 1331-1371, September.
    15. Ben-Ner, Avner & List, John A. & Putterman, Louis & Samek, Anya, 2017. "Learned generosity? An artefactual field experiment with parents and their children," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 28-44.
    16. Matthias Doepke & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2019. "EconomicDynamics Interview: Matthias Doepke and Fabrizio Zilibotti on Family Economics," EconomicDynamics Newsletter, Review of Economic Dynamics, vol. 20(1), April.
    17. Doepke, Matthias & Zilibotti, Fabrizio, 2014. "Culture, Entrepreneurship, and Growth," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 1-48, Elsevier.
    18. Matthias Doepke & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2019. "EconomicDynamics Interview: Matthias Doepke and Fabrizio Zilibotti on Family Economics," EconomicDynamics Newsletter, Review of Economic Dynamics, vol. 20(1), April.
    19. Koch, Alexander & Nafziger, Julia & Nielsen, Helena Skyt, 2015. "Behavioral economics of education," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 3-17.
    20. Contreras Suarez, Diana & Cameron, Lisa A., 2016. "Conditional Cash Transfers: Do They Change Time Preferences and Educational Aspirations?," IZA Discussion Papers 10309, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    21. Britta Gauly, 2017. "The Intergenerational Transmission of Attitudes: Analyzing Time Preferences and Reciprocity," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 293-312, June.
    22. Boll, Christina & Bublitz, Elisabeth & Hoffmann, Malte, 2015. "Geschlechtsspezifische Berufswahl: Literatur- und Datenüberblick zu Einflussfaktoren, Anhaltspunkten struktureller Benachteiligung und Abbruchkosten," HWWI Policy Papers 90, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI).
    23. Sule Alan & Nazli Baydar & Teodora Boneva & Thomas F. Crossley & Seda Ertac, 2013. "Parental Socialization Effort and the Intergenerational Transmission of Risk Preferences," Koç University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum Working Papers 1313, Koc University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum.
    24. Zubair, Maria & Khanum, Ayesha & Nasir, Marjan, 2018. "Transfer Of Behavioral Traits From Parents To Children: An Experimental Approach," MPRA Paper 92121, University Library of Munich, Germany.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    risk preferences; trust; intergenerational transmission; cultural transmission; social mobility; GSOEP;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • D8 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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