Effects of Parental Background on Other-Regarding Preferences in Children
CERGE-EI Working Paper Series No. 450
38 Pages Posted: 30 Nov 2011
There are 2 versions of this paper
Effects of Parental Background on Other-Regarding Preferences in Children
Effects of Parental Background on Other-Regarding Preferences in Children
Date Written: November 1, 2011
Abstract
Other-regarding preferences are central for the ability to solve collective action problems and thus for society’s welfare. We study how the formation of other-regarding preferences during childhood is related to parental background. Using binary-choice dictator games to classify subjects into other-regarding types, we find that children of less educated parents are less altruistic and more spiteful. This link is robust to controlling for a range of child, family, and peer characteristics, and is attenuated for smarter children. The results suggest that less educated parents are either less efficient to instill social norms or their children less able to acquire them.
Keywords: other-regarding preferences, altruism, spite, experiments with children, family background, education
JEL Classification: C91, D03, D64, I24
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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