Donations, risk attitudes and time preferences: A study on altruism in primary school children

Silvia Angerer, Daniela Glätzle-Rützler, Philipp Lergetporer and Matthias Sutter

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2015, vol. 115, issue C, 67-74

Abstract: We study in a sample of 1070 primary school children, aged seven to eleven years, how altruism in a donation experiment is related to children's risk attitudes and intertemporal choices. Examining such a relationship is motivated by theories of reciprocal altruism that provide a cornerstone for understanding human social behavior. We find that higher risk tolerance and patience in intertemporal choice increase, in general, the level of donations, albeit the effects are non-linear. We confirm earlier results that altruism increases with age during childhood and that girls are more altruistic than boys. Having older brothers makes subjects less altruistic.

Keywords: Altruism; Donations; Risk attitudes; Intertemporal choices; Experiment; Children (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 D03 D63 D64 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (51)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Donations, risk attitudes and time preferences: A study on altruism in primary school children (2014)
Working Paper: Donations, risk attitudes and time preferences: a study on altruism in primary school children (2014)
Working Paper: Donations, risk attitudes and time preferences: A study on altruism in primary school children (2014)
Working Paper: Donations, Risk Attitudes and Time Preferences: A Study on Altruism in Primary School Children (2014)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:115:y:2015:i:c:p:67-74

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2014.10.007

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