Do risk and time preferences have biological roots?

Andreas Drichoutis and Rodolfo Nayga

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: We revisit the claims about the biological underpinnings of economic behavior by specifically exploring if observed gender differences in risk/time preferences can be explained by natural fluctuations in progesterone/estradiol levels during the menstrual cycle and by prenatal exposure to testosterone levels. Results suggest that natural fluctuations in progesterone levels have a direct effect on discount rates and that estradiol/progesterone levels can indirectly affect time preferences by changing the curvature of the utility function. Using measured D2:D4 digit ratio, results imply that subjects with low digit ratio exhibit higher discount rates and risk loving preferences.

Keywords: discount rates; risk aversion; lab experiment; menstrual cycle; D2:D4 ratio; hormones; estradiol; progesterone; testosterone (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 D81 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-03-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-evo, nep-exp, nep-neu and nep-upt
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/37320/1/MPRA_paper_37320.pdf original version (application/pdf)
https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/43754/1/MPRA_paper_43754.pdf revised version (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Do risk and time preferences have biological roots? (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:37320

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