The Today and Tomorrow of Kids

25 Pages Posted: 4 Jul 2008

See all articles by Marco Castillo

Marco Castillo

Texas A&M University

Paul J. Ferraro

Johns Hopkins University - Carey Business School; Georgia State University - Department of Economics

Jeffrey L. Jordan

University of Georgia - College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences

Ragan Petrie

Texas A&M University - Department of Economics; University of Melbourne - Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research

Date Written: June 2008

Abstract

We experimentally investigate the distribution of children's time preferences along gender and racial lines. We find that boys are more impatient than girls and black children are no more impatient than white children. However, this pattern hides the fact that black boys have the highest discount rates of all groups. Most importantly, we show that impatience has a direct effect on behavior. An increase of one standard deviation in the discount rate increases the probability that a child has at least 3 disciplinary referrals by 5 percent. Time preferences might play a large role in setting appropriate incentives for children.

Keywords: time preferences, children, experiments

JEL Classification: C90, D90, I20

Suggested Citation

Castillo, Marco and Ferraro, Paul J. and Jordan, Jeffrey L. and Petrie, Ragan, The Today and Tomorrow of Kids (June 2008). Andrew Young School of Policy Studies Research Paper Series No. 08-22, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1154633 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1154633

Marco Castillo

Texas A&M University ( email )

5201 University Blvd.
College Station, TX 77843-4228
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.marcocastillo.org

Paul J. Ferraro

Johns Hopkins University - Carey Business School ( email )

100 International Drive
Baltimore, MD 21202
United States

Georgia State University - Department of Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 3992
Atlanta, GA 30302-3992
United States

Jeffrey L. Jordan

University of Georgia - College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences ( email )

Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics
Athens, GA 30602
United States
770-228-7231, Ext. 106 (Phone)
(770) 228-7208 (Fax)

Ragan Petrie (Contact Author)

Texas A&M University - Department of Economics ( email )

4228 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-4228
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.raganpetrie.org/

University of Melbourne - Melbourne Institute: Applied Economic & Social Research ( email )

Level 5, FBE Building, 111 Barry Street
Parkville, Victoria 3010
Australia

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
118
Abstract Views
1,436
Rank
424,928
PlumX Metrics