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on Neuroeconomics |
| By: | Zhang, Zheyuan (Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing); Xu, Hui (Beijing Normal University); Liu, Ruilin (Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing); Zhao, Zhong (Renmin University of China) |
| Abstract: | This paper estimates the impact of the Free Education Policy, a major education reform implemented in rural China in 2006, as a natural experiment on the intergenerational transmission of cognitive skills. The identification strategy relies on a difference-in-differences approach and exploits the fact that the reform was implemented gradually at different times across different provinces. By utilizing nationally representative data from the China Family Panel Studies, we find that an additional semester of exposure to the Free Education Policy reduces the intergenerational transmission of parent and child cognitive scores by an approximately 1% standard deviation in rural China, indicating a reduction of 3.5% in intergenerational cognitive persistence. The improvement in cognitive mobility across generations might be attributed to enhanced school attainment, the relaxation of budget constraints, and increased social contact for children whose parents are less advantaged in terms of cognitive skills. |
| Keywords: | free education policy, intergenerational transmission, cognitive skills |
| JEL: | H52 I24 J24 |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17314 |
| By: | Niklas M. Witzig |
| Abstract: | I study altruistic choices through the lens of a cognitively noisy decision-maker. I introduce a theoretical framework that demonstrates how increased cognitive noise can directionally affect altruistic decisions and put its implications to the test: In a laboratory experiment, participants make a series of binary choices between taking and giving monetary payments. In the treatment, to-be-calculated sums replace plain monetary payments, increasing the cognitive difficulty of choosing. The Treatment group exhibits a lower sensitivity towards changes in payments and decides significantly more often in favor of the other person, i.e., is more altruistic. I explore the origins of this effect with Bayesian hierarchical models and a number-comparison task, mirroring the mechanics of the altruism choices absent any altruistic preference. The treatment effect is similar in this task, suggesting that a biased perception of numerical magnitudes drives treatment differences. The probabilistic models support this interpretation. A series of additional results show a negative correlation between cognitive reflection and individual measures of cognitive noise, as well as associations between altruistic choice and number comparison. Overall, these results suggest that altruistic preferences -- and potentially social preferences more generally -- are affected by the cognitive difficulty of their implementation. |
| Date: | 2024–10 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2410.07647 |
| By: | Breitkopf, Laura; Chowdhury, Shyamal; Priyam, Shambhavi; Schildberg-Hörisch, Hannah; Sutter, Matthias |
| Abstract: | We study the relationship between parenting style and a broad range of children's skills and outcomes. Based on survey and experimental data from 5, 580 children and their parents, we find that children exposed to positive parenting have higher IQs, are more altruistic, open to new experiences, conscientious, and agreeable, have a higher locus of control, self-control, and self-esteem, perform better in scholarly achievement tests, behave more prosocially in everyday life, and are more satisfied with their life. Positive parenting is negatively associated with children's neuroticism, patience, engagement in risky behaviors, and their emotional and behavioral problems. |
| Keywords: | parenting style, child outcomes, economic preferences, personality traits, IQ |
| JEL: | C91 D01 D10 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:dicedp:304410 |
| By: | Pascaline Dupas (Princeton University, NBER, and CEPR); Camille Falezan (MIT); Seema Jayachandran (Princeton University); Mark Walsh (Stanford University) |
| Abstract: | Despite the well-established importance of verbal engagement for infant language and cognitive development, many parents in low-income contexts do not converse with their infants regularly. This paper reports on a randomized field experiment evaluating a low-cost intervention designed to boost verbal engagement with infants. The intervention entails showing recent or expectant mothers a 3-minute informational video and providing them with a themed wall calendar. Six to eight months later, mothers who participated reported a stronger belief in the benefits of verbally engaging with infants, more frequent parent-infant conversations, and more advanced language and communication skills of their infants. Treatment effects on objective measures of parent-child conversation (from a recording device) and infant language and cognitive skills (from surveyors’ observations) were statistically insignificant but consistently positive. We find larger effects on objectively measured parent-child conversation immediately after the intervention, suggesting scope for a larger long-term effect had the behavior change stuck more. The intervention’s potential for low-cost implementation via health clinics makes it a promising strategy for early childhood development in low-income contexts, particularly if complemented by efforts to support habit formation. |
| Keywords: | Ghana, early childhood development; infant-directed speech; human capital; information intervention |
| JEL: | C93 D19 I21 |
| Date: | 2024–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pri:cepsud:324 |