Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/191521 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
GLO Discussion Paper No. 306
Publisher: 
Global Labor Organization (GLO), Maastricht
Abstract: 
We use the separation and later reunification of Germany after World War II to show that a political regime shapes time preferences of its residents. Using two identification strategies, we find that former residents of the German Democratic Republic exhibit a significantly less pronounced present bias when compared to former residents of the Fed- eral Republic of Germany, whereas measures of patience are statistically indistinguishable. Interpreting the years spent under the regime as a proxy for treatment intensity yields consistent results. Moreover, we present evidence showing that present bias predicts choices in the domains of health, finance, and education, thereby illustrating lasting repercussions of a regime's in uence on time preferences.
Subjects: 
Time preferences
Political regime
Germany
Natural experiment
SOEP
JEL: 
D02
D12
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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