The effect of prenatal stress on cooperation: Evidence from violent conflict in Uganda

Francesco Cecchi and Jan Duchoslav

European Economic Review, 2018, vol. 101, issue C, 35-56

Abstract: Are preferences endogenously determined in the womb? We play a public goods game with Ugandan children born during a conflict characterised by high civilian victimisation. Children whose caregivers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder are more likely to free-ride in the game. Genetic and environmental factors alone do not explain the relationship, but children’s 2D:4D digit ratio – a marker of fetal hormone exposure associated with epigenetic effects of maternal distress – does. Our findings extend the fetal origins literature to the domain of preferences. By reducing next generation’s taste for cooperation, conflict may have father-reaching economic consequences than previously thought.

Keywords: Prenatal stress; Cooperation; Digit ratio; Fetal origins; Conflict (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 D03 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:101:y:2018:i:c:p:35-56

DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2017.09.015

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