Fostering Patience in the Classroom: Results from Randomized Educational Intervention

Sule Alan and Seda Ertac

Journal of Political Economy, 2018, vol. 126, issue 5, 1865 - 1911

Abstract: We evaluate the impact of a randomized educational intervention on children's intertemporal choices. The intervention aims to improve the ability to imagine future selves and encourages forward-looking behavior using a structured curriculum delivered by children's own trained teachers. We find that treated students make more patient intertemporal decisions in incentivized experimental tasks. The results persist almost 3 years after the intervention, replicate well in a different sample, and are robust across different experimental elicitation methods. The effects also extend beyond experimental outcomes: we find that treated students are significantly less likely to receive a low "behavior grade."

Date: 2018
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