Work

Recession experiences during early adulthood shape prosocial attitudes later in life

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This paper explores whether the experience of a recession during early adulthood shapes individuals’ prosocial attitudes. The analysis uses survey responses to experimentally validated questions that measure prosocial attitudes for approximately 64,000 respondents in 74 countries. The identification approach exploits variation in recession experiences across 75 different birth cohorts. We find that exposure to a recession during early adulthood is associated with lower levels of prosociality later in life. The effect only emerges for experiences during the impressionable years (age 18–25), mainly affects prosocial attitudes among men, and is orthogonal to the effect of experiences with democracy. • We ask how recession experiences in early adulthood impact prosociality in later life. • We analyze survey data from 64,000 respondents across 74 countries. • Recession exposure during early adulthood is linked to reduced prosociality.

Source: Journal of Public Economics

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2025.105327

Authors: Jan Bietenbeck, Uwe Sunde, Petra Thiemann

Institutions: German Institute for Economic Research, Lund University, IZA - Institute of Labor Economics, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

Language: English

Topic: Social Policy and Reform Studies

Subfield: Political Science and International Relations

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,510