Parental separation and the formation of economic preferences

40 Pages Posted: 11 Jan 2022

See all articles by Sarah C. Dahmann

Sarah C. Dahmann

University of Melbourne - Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research; IZA Institute of Labor Economics; University of Melbourne - ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course

Nathan Kettlewell

University of Sydney

Jack Lam

University of Queensland - Institute for Social Science Research (ISSR)

Multiple version iconThere are 3 versions of this paper

Date Written: January 10, 2022

Abstract

We estimate the effect of parental separation on the risk and trust attitudes of German adolescents using a large household survey dataset, which allows us to match respondents to their siblings and parents. Our results indicate that adolescents from separated families are less trusting but have the same risk tolerance as adolescents from non-separated families, even after conditioning on the attitudes of parents and other controls. This trust deficit persists into early adulthood. Moreover, for both trust and risk, we find that separation attenuates the transmission of preferences from father to child. Additional analyses point to reduced parental involvement and greater family conflict as potential mechanisms.

Keywords: Family dissolution, divorce, preference, risk, trust, intergenerational transmission

JEL Classification: J12, J13, D91, D81

Suggested Citation

Dahmann, Sarah C. and Kettlewell, Nathan and Lam, Jack, Parental separation and the formation of economic preferences (January 10, 2022). Melbourne Institute Working Paper No. 1/22, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4005625 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4005625

Sarah C. Dahmann (Contact Author)

University of Melbourne - Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research ( email )

Level 5, FBE Building, 111 Barry Street
Parkville, Victoria 3010
Australia

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

University of Melbourne - ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course

Nathan Kettlewell

University of Sydney ( email )

Rm 370 Merewether (H04)
The University of Sydney
Sydney, NSW 2006 2008
Australia

HOME PAGE: http://sydney.edu.au/arts/economics/staff/profiles/nathan.kettlewell.php

Jack Lam

University of Queensland - Institute for Social Science Research (ISSR) ( email )

North 3 (Bldg 39A)
St Lucia, Queensland QLD 4072
Australia

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