Psychological effects of poverty on time preferences

0544525 - NHÚ 2022 RIV GB eng J - Journal Article
Bartoš, V. - Bauer, Michal - Chytilová, Julie - Levely, I.
Psychological effects of poverty on time preferences.
Economic Journal. Roč. 131, č. 638 (2021), s. 2357-2382. ISSN 0013-0133. E-ISSN 1468-0297
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA17-13869S; GA ČR(CZ) GA20-11091S
Institutional support: RVO:67985998
Keywords : field experiments * intertemporal consumer choice * life cycle models and saving
OECD category: Applied Economics, Econometrics
Impact factor: 3.721, year: 2021
Method of publishing: Limited access
https://doi.org/10.1093/ej/ueab007

We test whether an environment of poverty affects time preferences through purely psychological channels. We measured discount rates among farmers in Uganda who made decisions about when to enjoy entertainment instead of working. To circumvent the role of economic constraints, we experimentally induced thoughts about poverty-related problems, using priming techniques. We find that thinking about poverty increases the preference to consume entertainment early and to delay work. Using monitoring tools similar to eye tracking, a novel feature for this subject pool, we show that this effect is unlikely to be driven by less careful decision-making processes.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0321367