Philipp Huebler
Heritability
of time preference: Evidence from German twin data
Abstract:
Intergenerational
correlations of time preference are well documented. However, there is
still limited empirical evidence about the role of genetics in this
transmission process. In our paper, we use data on roughly 3,000 twins
from the German TwinLife project to estimate the heritability of time
preference. We rely on an experimentally validated survey measure of
temporal discounting, namely, self-assessed patience. The analysis of
monozygotic and dizygotic twins enables us to apply standard biometric
models. We find that genetic differences explain up to 23 percent of
individual variation in patience. Whereas the additive genetic effect
and common environmental effects are of minor importance, a major
dominant genetic effect is present. These results indicate a notable
degree of genetic influence on economic time preferences.
JEL: D10, D90, J10, Z10
Paper:
Paper available as pdf-file.
Beitrag Nr. 334, Volkswirtschaftliche Diskussionsreihe, Institut
für
Volkswirtschaftslehre der Universität Augsburg
Contact:
Philipp
Huebler, University of Augsburg, Department of Economics,
D-86135
Augsburg,
Germany, phone +49-821-598-4209, fax +49-821-598-4232,
email: philipp.huebler@wiwi.uni-augsburg.de
Bo.,
20.03.2017