Patience and Subnational Differences in Human Capital: Regional Analysis with Facebook Interests

Eric A Hanushek, Lavinia Kinne, Pietro Sancassaniifo and Ludger Woessmann

The Economic Journal, 2026, vol. 136, issue 673, 335-350

Abstract: Decisions to invest in human capital depend on people's time preferences. This paper shows that differences in patience are closely related to substantial subnational differences in educational achievement, leading to new perspectives on long-standing within-country disparities. We use social media data—Facebook interests—to construct novel regional measures of patience within Italy and the United States. The approach is first validated with a cross-country analysis of patience and Facebook interests. We then show that patience is strongly positively associated with student achievement across regions in both countries, accounting for three-quarters of the achievement variation across Italian regions and one-third across US states. The finding is confirmed in an identification strategy employing variation in ancestry countries of the current populations of US states. Results hold for six other countries with more limited regional achievement data.

Date: 2026
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