Work

The Agricultural Origins of Time Preference

Year: 2016

Type: article

Abstract: This research explores the origins of observed differences in time preference across countries and regions. Exploiting a natural experiment associated with the expansion of suitable crops for cultivation in the course of the Columbian Exchange, the research establishes that pre-industrial agro-climatic characteristics that were conducive to higher return to agricultural investment, triggered selection, adaptation and learning processes that generated a persistent positive effect on the prevalence of long-term orientation in the contemporary era. Furthermore, the research establishes that these agro-climatic characteristics have had a culturally embodied impact on economic behavior such as technological adoption, education, saving, and smoking.

Source: American Economic Review

DOI: 10.1257/aer.20150020

Authors: Oded Galor, Ömer Özak

Institutions: Brown University, Southern Methodist University

Language: English

Topic: Culture, Economy, and Development Studies

Subfield: Demography

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Zero hunger

Open Access status: green

Funder: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development