Hunger for money: Early-life hunger experiences increase individual's desire for money

Xin Huang and Zhiyi Li

Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), 2025, vol. 115, issue C

Abstract: The desire for money is one of the strongest motivations for individuals in contemporary society. This paper focuses on the stimuli for such motivation, specifically examining the impact of individuals’ early-life hunger experiences on their desire for money. Utilizing a large survey sample extracted from the China Family Panel Studies, we find that early-life hunger experiences lead to a significant increase in individuals’ desire for money. Further analyses reveal that heterogeneous effects exist across personal characteristics, including gender, hukou, and personal income level. Moreover, we find that the hunger experience effect shows a monotonically decreasing relationship with exposure age. This paper complements the existing literature on stimuli for money desire and proposes a potential mediator for why past hunger/famine experiences induce money-oriented behaviors in sufferers’ later life, as frequently reported by previous literature.

Keywords: Desire for money; Hunger experience; Famine; Money-oriented behavior; Econometric analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D62 D84 D91 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:soceco:v:115:y:2025:i:c:s2214804325000023

DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2025.102335

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