Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/279406 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
IFRO Working Paper No. 2023/03
Publisher: 
University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics (IFRO), Copenhagen
Abstract: 
Preferences are key for shaping decision-making, yet it remains an open question where preferences originate from. We investigate the causal effect of the childhood social environment on adults' preferences. We utilize a natural experiment in Denmark, which randomized refugees to different neighbourhoods in the 1990s. We experimentally measure risk, time, and social preferences of adult refugees who were children at the time of arrival in Denmark. Using rich administrative register data on the entire Danish population we can measure a very broad range of aspects of the childhood social environment. We find that the randomly allocated childhood environment significantly affects adults' preferences, in particular, patience.
Subjects: 
Preference formation
natural experiment
register data
JEL: 
C90
D15
D64
D81
D90
J62
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.