| Abstract: |
We use novel data on nearly 6, 000 children and adolescents aged 6 to 16 that
combine incentivized measures of social, time, and risk preferences with rich
information on child behavior and family environment to study whether
children's economic preferences predict their behavior. Results from standard
regression specifications demonstrate the predictive power of children's
preferences for their prosociality, educational achievement, risky behaviors,
emotional health, and behavioral problems. In a second step, we add
information on a family's socio-economic status, family structure, religion,
parental preferences and IQ, and parenting style to capture household
environment. As a result, the predictive power of preferences for behavior
attenuates. We discuss implications of our findings for research on the
formation of children's preferences and behavior. |