Parenting with Style: Altruism and Paternalism in Intergenerational Preference Transmission

Matthias Doepke and Fabrizio Zilibotti

No 7108, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We construct a theory of intergenerational preference transmission that rationalizes the choice between alternative parenting styles (related to Baumrind 1967). Parents maximize an objective function that combines Beckerian and paternalistic altruism towards children. They can affect their children's choices via two channels: either by influencing their preferences or by imposing direct restrictions on their choice sets. Different parenting styles (authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive) emerge as equilibrium outcomes, and are affected both by parental preferences and by the socioeconomic environment. We consider two applications: patience and risk aversion. We argue that parenting styles may be important for explaining why different groups or societies develop different attitudes towards human capital formation, entrepreneurship, and innovation.

Keywords: paternalism; altruism; intergenerational preference transmission; entrepreneurship; innovation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D10 J10 O10 O40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 55 pages
Date: 2012-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-ent, nep-evo, nep-ino, nep-mic, nep-neu and nep-upt
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (28)

Published - published in: Econometrica, 2017, 85 (5), 1331-1371

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https://docs.iza.org/dp7108.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Parenting With Style: Altruism and Paternalism in Intergenerational Preference Transmission (2017)
Working Paper: Parenting with Style: Altruism and Paternalism in Intergenerational Preference Transmission (2014)
Working Paper: Parenting with Style: Altruism and Paternalism in Intergenerational Preference Transmission (2014)
Working Paper: Parenting with Style: Altruism and Paternalism in Intergenerational Preference Transmission (2014)
Working Paper: Parenting with Style: Altruism and Paternalism in Intergenerational Preference Transmission (2014)
Working Paper: Parenting with style: altruism and paternalism in intergenerational preference transmission (2014)
Working Paper: Parenting with style: Altruism and paternalism in intergenerational preference transmission (2012)
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