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Language and decision making: Board members and the investment in the future

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  • Rottner, Florian

Abstract

Recent research has shown that the grammatical representation of the future in languages influences how future-oriented an individual behaves in her private life. In this paper, I examine whether this effect of language characteristics on a person's behaviour is also evident in the business world. I test the hypothesis that companies with board members whose native language grammatically separates the present from the future are less future-oriented. I find significant effects of the inflectional marking of the future in one language on the growth rate of a company's intangible assets, which I use as a benchmark for its future orientation.

Suggested Citation

  • Rottner, Florian, 2021. "Language and decision making: Board members and the investment in the future," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 421, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:cegedp:421
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Language Structure; Future Tense; Research and Development Activities;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

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