Arbeitspapier

Impatience and uncertainty: Experimental decisions predict adolescents' field behavior

We study risk attitudes, ambiguity attitudes, and time preferences of 661 children and adolescents, aged ten to eighteen years, in an incentivized experiment and relate experimental choices to field behavior. Experimental measures of impatience are found to be significant predictors of health-related field behavior, saving decisions and conduct at school. In particular, more impatient children and adolescents are more likely to spend money on alcohol and cigarettes, have a higher body mass index, are less likely to save money and show worse conduct at school. Experimental measures for risk and ambiguity attitudes are only weak predictors of field behavior.

Language
Englisch

Bibliographic citation
Series: CESifo Working Paper ; No. 3635

Classification
Wirtschaft
Design of Experiments: Laboratory, Individual
Field Experiments
Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: General‡
Subject
experiments with children and adolescents
risk
ambiguity
time preferences
health status
savings
conduct at school
external validity

Event
Geistige Schöpfung
(who)
Sutter, Matthias
Kocher, Martin G.
Rützler, Daniela
Trautmann, Stefan T.
Event
Veröffentlichung
(who)
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo)
(where)
Munich
(when)
2011

Handle
Last update
10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET

Data provider

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Object type

  • Arbeitspapier

Associated

  • Sutter, Matthias
  • Kocher, Martin G.
  • Rützler, Daniela
  • Trautmann, Stefan T.
  • Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo)

Time of origin

  • 2011

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