The Agricultural Origins of Time Preference

Oded Galor and Ömer Özak

No 20438, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This research explores the origins of the distribution of time preference across regions. It advances the hypothesis, and establishes empirically, that geographical variations in natural land productivity and their impact on the return to agricultural investment have had a persistent effect on the distribution of long-term orientation across societies. In particular, exploiting a natural experiment associated with the expansion of suitable crops for cultivation in the course of the Columbian Exchange, the research establishes that agro-climatic characteristics in the pre-industrial era that were conducive to higher return to agricultural investment, triggered selection and learning processes that had a persistent positive effect on the prevalence of long-term orientation in the contemporary era.

JEL-codes: O1 O4 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-evo, nep-gro and nep-his
Note: DEV EFG
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (30)

Published as Oded Galor & Ömer Özak, 2016. "The Agricultural Origins of Time Preference," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(10), pages 3064-3103, October.

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Related works:
Journal Article: The Agricultural Origins of Time Preference (2016)
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)
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