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Patience and Comparative Development

Author

Listed:
  • Uwe Sunde
  • Thomas Dohmen
  • Benjamin Enke
  • Armin Falkbriq
  • David Huffman
  • Gerrit Meyerheim
Abstract
This article studies the relationship between patience and comparative development through a combination of reduced-form analyses and model estimations. Based on a globally representative dataset on time preference in 76 countries, we document two sets of stylized facts. First, patience is strongly correlated with per capita income and the accumulation of physical capital, human capital, and productivity. These correlations hold across countries, sub-national regions, and individuals. Second, the magnitude of the patience elasticity strongly increases in the level of aggregation. To provide an interpretive lens for these patterns, we analyse an overlapping generations model in which savings and education decisions are endogenous to patience, aggregate production is characterized by capital-skill complementarities, and productivity implicitly depends on patience through a human capital externality. In our model estimations, general equilibrium effects alone account for a non-trivial share of the observed amplification effects, and an extension to human capital externalities can quantitatively match the empirical evidence.

Suggested Citation

  • Uwe Sunde & Thomas Dohmen & Benjamin Enke & Armin Falkbriq & David Huffman & Gerrit Meyerheim, 2022. "Patience and Comparative Development," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 89(5), pages 2806-2840.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:restud:v:89:y:2022:i:5:p:2806-2840.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/restud/rdab084
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    Cited by:

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    2. Dagorn, Etienne & Dattilo, Martina & Pourieux, Matthieu, 2024. "The role of populations’ behavioral traits in policy-making during a global crisis: Worldwide evidence," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    3. Benjamin Enke & Thomas Graeber & Ryan Oprea & Thomas W. Graeber, 2023. "Complexity and Hyperbolic Discounting," CESifo Working Paper Series 10861, CESifo.
    4. Möhrle, Sascha & Sunde, Uwe, 2021. "Distance to the pre-industrial technological frontier, patience, and economic development," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    5. Davoli, Maddalena & Rodríguez-Planas, Núria, 2021. "Preferences, Financial Literacy, and Economic Development," IZA Discussion Papers 14759, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Harry Pickard & Thomas Dohmen & Bert Landeghem, 2024. "Inequality and risk preference," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 69(2), pages 191-217, October.
    7. Matteo Cervellati & Gerrit Meyerheim & Uwe Sunde, 2023. "The empirics of economic growth over time and across nations: a unified growth perspective," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 173-224, June.
    8. Alexander W. Cappelen & Benjamin Enke & Bertil Tungodden, 2022. "Moral Universalism: Global Evidence," CESifo Working Paper Series 10110, CESifo.
    9. Mevlut Tatliyer & Nurullah Gur, 2022. "Individualism and Working Hours: Macro-Level Evidence," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 159(2), pages 733-755, January.
    10. Pablo Brañas-Garza & Diego Jorrat & Antonio M. Espín & Angel Sánchez, 2023. "Paid and hypothetical time preferences are the same: lab, field and online evidence," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 26(2), pages 412-434, April.
    11. Florens Pfann & Gerard Pfann, 2024. "Can trust explain patience? A cross-country analysis," French Stata Users' Group Meetings 2024 02, Stata Users Group.
    12. Zhan, Crystal & Deole, Sumit, 2022. "Economic Preferences and the Self-selection of Immigrants," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1156, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    13. Laura Alfaro & Ester Faia & Nora Lamersdorf & Farzad Saidi, 2022. "Health Externalities and Policy: The Role of Social Preferences," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(9), pages 6751-6761, September.
    14. Nieminen, Mika & Kuziemska-Pawlak, Kamila, 2024. "Cross-country variation in economic preferences and the asset composition of international investment positions," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Time preference; Comparative development; Factor accumulation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • D90 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - General
    • 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
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General

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