The Agricultural Origins of Time Preference

Oded Galor and Ömer Özak

American Economic Review, 2016, vol. 106, issue 10, 3064-3103

Abstract: This research explores the origins of observed differences in time preference across countries and regions. Exploiting a natural experiment associated with the expansion of suitable crops for cultivation in the course of the Columbian Exchange, the research establishes that pre-industrial agro-climatic characteristics which were conducive to higher return to agricultural investment triggered selection, adaptation, and learning processes that generated a persistent positive effect on the prevalence of long-term orientation in the contemporary era. Furthermore, the research establishes that these agro-climatic characteristics have had a culturally embodied impact on economic behavior such as technological adoption, education, saving, and smoking.

JEL-codes: D72 G21 G28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.20150020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (381)

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Related works:
Working Paper: The Agricultural Origins of Time Preference (2016)
Working Paper: The Agricultural Origins of Time Preference (2015)
Working Paper: The Agricultural Origins of Time Preference (2015)
Working Paper: The Agricultural Origins of Time Preference (2014)
Working Paper: The Agricultural Origins of Time Preference (2014)
Working Paper: The Agricultural Origins of Time Preference (2014)
Working Paper: The Agricultural Origins of Time Preference (2014)
Working Paper: The Agricultural Origins of Time Preference (2014)
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