Arbeitspapier
Emotions, risk attitudes, and patience
Previous work has shown that preferences are not always stable across time, but surprisingly little is known about the reasons for this instability. I examine whether variation in people's emotions over time predicts changes in preferences. Using a large panel data set, I find that within-person changes in happiness, anger, and fear have substantial effects on risk attitudes and patience. Robustness checks indicate a limited role of alternative explanations. I further address potential endogeneity concerns by exploiting information about the death of a parent or child. This identification strategy confirms a large causal impact of emotions on preferences.
- Language
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Englisch
- Bibliographic citation
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Series: SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research ; No. 1041
- Classification
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Wirtschaft
Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: General‡
Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making‡
- Subject
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emotions
risk attitudes
patience
risk preferences
time preferences
- Event
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Geistige Schöpfung
- (who)
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Meier, Armando N.
- Event
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Veröffentlichung
- (who)
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Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW)
- (where)
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Berlin
- (when)
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2019
- Handle
- Last update
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10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET
Data provider
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. If you have any questions about the object, please contact the data provider.
Object type
- Arbeitspapier
Associated
- Meier, Armando N.
- Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW)
Time of origin
- 2019