Heterogeneous effects of poverty on attention

Helmut Farbmacher, Heinrich Kögel and Martin Spindler

Labour Economics, 2021, vol. 71, issue C

Abstract: We examine heterogeneity in the effect of poor financial circumstances on attention. Our analysis uses data from an experiment, which randomly assigned low-income individuals to perform a cognitive test before or after payday. On average, and based on traditional subgroup analysis, the experiment did not suggest that the poorer financial circumstances before payday impeded cognitive function. Using the causal forest method, however, our heterogeneity analysis suggests that there are indeed detrimental effects among young and elderly individuals with very low incomes. We can confirm this finding in an independent experiment, using only traditional subgroup analysis.

Keywords: Poverty; Cognition; Attention; Heterogeneous effects; Causal forest (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D14 D91 I32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:labeco:v:71:y:2021:i:c:s0927537121000634

DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2021.102028

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