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on Neuroeconomics |
| By: | Jonathan Chapman; Pietro Ortoleva; Erik Snowberg; Leeat Yariv; Colin Camerer |
| Abstract: | Qualitative self-assessments of economic preferences have recently gained popularity, often supported by experimental validation, a method that links them to choices in incentivized elicitations. We illustrate theoretically that experimental validation may fail to produce reliable new measures. Empirically, analyzing data from over 13, 000 participants across diverse samples, we document four key findings. First, qualitative self-assessments and traditional incentivized measures exhibit weak correlations, even when accounting for response noise. Second, qualitative self-assessments sometimes correlate more strongly with theoretically distinct incentivized elicitations than those for which they are intended to proxy. Third, relationships between qualitative self-assessments and various attributes---including geographical location, demographics, and behaviors---are unrelated to variation in incentivized elicitations. Fourth, qualitative self-assessments are no simpler for participants than incentivized elicitations: these questions show a common heuristic of extreme or midpoint responses, especially by individuals with lower cognitive ability. |
| JEL: | C90 C91 C93 D90 |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33520 |
| By: | Orazio Attanasio (University College London); Gabriella Conti (University College London); Pamela Jervis (University of Chile); Costas Meghir (Yale University); Aysu Okbay (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam) |
| Abstract: | We evaluate impacts heterogeneity of an Early Childhood Intervention, with respect to the Educational Attainment Polygenic Score (EA4 PGS) constructed from DNA data based on GWAS weights from a European population. We find that the EA4 PGS is predictive of several measures of child development, mother’s IQ and, to some extent, educational attainment. We also show that the impacts of the intervention are significantly greater in children with low PGS, to the point that the intervention eliminates the initial genetic disadvantage. Lastly, we find that children with high PGS attract more parental stimulation; however, the latter increases more strongly in children with low PGS. |
| Keywords: | gene-environment interactions, early childhood development, stimulation programs |
| JEL: | C21 J13 I24 |
| Date: | 2025–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hka:wpaper:2025-003 |