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Language group differences in time preferences: Evidence from primary school children in a bilingual city

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  • Sutter, Matthias
  • Angerer, Silvia
  • Glatzle-Rutzler, Daniela
  • Lergetporer, Philipp

Abstract

We study differences in intertemporal choices across language groups in an incentivized experiment with 1154 children in a bilingual city. The sample consists of 86% of all primary school kids in Meran/Merano, where about half of the 38,000 inhabitants speak German, and the other half Italian, while both language groups live very close to each other. We find that German-speaking primary school children are about 16 percentage points more likely than Italian-speaking children to delay gratification in an intertemporal choice experiment. The difference remains significant in several robustness checks and when controlling for a broad range of factors, including risk attitudes, IQ family background, or residential area. Hence, we are able to show that language group affiliation, which is often used as a proxy for culture, plays an important role in shaping economic preferences already early in life.

Suggested Citation

  • Sutter, Matthias & Angerer, Silvia & Glatzle-Rutzler, Daniela & Lergetporer, Philipp, 2018. "Language group differences in time preferences: Evidence from primary school children in a bilingual city," Munich Reprints in Economics 62855, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:lmu:muenar:62855
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    3. Tang, Jintong & Yang, Jun & Ye, Wenping & Khan, Shaji A., 2021. "Now is the time: The effects of linguistic time reference and national time orientation on innovative new ventures," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(5).
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    6. Lisa Sofie Höckel, 2024. "Language lesson learned—foreign-origin teachers and their effect on students’ language skills," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(2), pages 1-32, June.
    7. Friedman-Sokuler, Naomi & Justman, Moshe, 2020. "Gender, culture and STEM: Counter-intuitive patterns in Arab society," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
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    10. Astghik Mavisakalyan & Yashar Tarverdi & Clas Weber, 2022. "Heaven can wait: future tense and religiosity," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(3), pages 833-860, July.
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    12. Silvia Angerer & Daniela Glätzle-Rützler & Philipp Lergetporer & Matthias Sutter, 2021. "The effects of language on patience: an experimental replication study of the linguistic-savings hypothesis in Austria," Journal of the Economic Science Association, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 7(1), pages 88-97, September.
    13. Tai-Sen He & Yohanes E. Riyanto & Saori C. Tanaka & Katsunori Yamada, 2020. "Pronoun drop and prosocial behavior: experimental evidence from Japan," Journal of the Economic Science Association, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 6(1), pages 13-25, June.
    14. Oasis Kodila‐Tedika & Sherif Khalifa, 2020. "Long‐term vision and economic development," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(11), pages 3088-3102, November.
    15. Francesco Campo & Luca Nunziata & Lorenzo Rocco, 2024. "Business is tense: new evidence on how language affects economic activity," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 29(1), pages 121-149, March.
    16. Keller, Tamás & Kiss, Hubert János & Szakál, Péter, 2024. "Endogenous language use and patience," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 792-812.
    17. Thijs Brouwer & Fabio Galeotti & Marie Claire Villeval, 2023. "Teaching Norms: Direct Evidence of Parental Transmission," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 133(650), pages 872-887.
    18. Chen, Josie I. & He, Tai-Sen & Riyanto, Yohanes E., 2019. "The effect of language on economic behavior: Examining the causal link between future tense and time preference in the lab," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    19. Zheng, Yeqiu & Gu, Yan & van Soest, Arthur, 2023. "Beyond financial knowledge and IQ: The effect of temporal values on pension planning, homeownership and financial wealth of natives and immigrants in the Netherlands," OSF Preprints 6cwk7, Center for Open Science.
    20. Clist, Paul & Hong, Ying-yi, 2023. "Do international students learn foreign preferences? The interplay of language, identity and assimilation," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    21. Mavisakalyan, Astghik & Tarverdi, Yashar & Weber, Clas, 2020. "Paradise Postponed: Future Tense and Religiosity," GLO Discussion Paper Series 500, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    22. Essl, Andrea & Suter, Manuel & von Bieberstein, Frauke, 2023. "The effect of future-time referencing on pro-environmental behavior," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 107(C).

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    JEL classification:

    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • D90 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - General

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