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on Neuroeconomics |
| By: | Feng, Shuaizhang; Gan, Yu; Han, Yujie; Kautz, Tim |
| Abstract: | China's One-Child Policy (OCP) restricted most couples to a single birth, leading to a rapid increase in the prevalence of only children. Using longitudinal data and a regression discontinuity design around the policy's start, we estimate the effects on grandchildren's human capital. We find that children with only-child mothers perform significantly better in cognitive skills (0.71 SD) and noncognitive skills (0.50 SD) than comparable peers. The effects are larger for boys, consistent with son preference, and for those with less-educated grandparents, for whom quantity-quality trade-offs are more applicable. Additionally, we find that only-child parents have higher educational attainment and provide more favorable home environments, which may explain their children's advantages in human capital outcomes. These findings suggest that, in the presence of quantity-quality trade-offs, fertility restrictions can improve human capital across multiple generations. |
| Keywords: | One-Child Policy, Child development, Cognitive and noncognitive skills, Intergenerational transmission |
| JEL: | J13 J24 I2 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1706 |
| By: | Orazio Attanasio |
| Abstract: | This paper reviews recent developments in the economics of human development, focusing on the early years of life as a critical period for shaping long-term outcomes. Early childhood development is inherently multidimensional: cognitive and socioemotional skills evolve dynamically and interact with health, nutrition, and environmental influences. Economists have contributed to this field by providing a conceptual unifying framework that highlights how key drivers of development reflect the choices of individuals operating under incentives and constraints. Within this framework, the paper emphasizes two central challenges: understanding the interactions among multiple dimensions of development and identifying causal links - particularly the effects of different inputs at different ages. Measurement issues are a recurring theme, given the difficulty of assessing young children and the need for comparability across contexts. The paper also stresses these issues’ policy relevance for poverty reduction and social mobility by discussing early childhood interventions in both developed and developing countries. |
| JEL: | D1 J24 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34651 |
| By: | Ciril Bosch-Rosa; Muhammed Bulutay; Bernhard Kassner |
| Abstract: | This paper integrates overprecision—a form of overconfidence where individuals overestimate the accuracy of their beliefs—into a canonical rational inattention model. We show that overprecision distorts belief updating directly by biasing the perceived value of new information and indirectly by amplifying the impact of attention costs. We test the model’s predictions in a pre-registered 2 x 2 belief-updating experiment that manipulates overprecision and information costs. The results confirm that overprecision reduces updating and that higher information costs lead to lower responsiveness to signals. While our pre-registered analysis finds no support for the predicted interaction between overprecision and attention costs, a more granular specification shows that the effect of information costs on belief updating is stronger for overprecise participants. These findings suggest that what appears as rational inattention partly reflects irrational inattention arising from misperceived prior accuracy, underscoring the need to distinguish informational frictions from cognitive biases when modeling attention. |
| Keywords: | Overconfidence, Rational inattention, Belief updating, Overprecision |
| JEL: | C83 D91 G41 |
| Date: | 2026–01–16 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bdp:dpaper:0086 |
| By: | Karali, Berna; Isengildina-Massa, Olga; Irwin, Scott H. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Finance, Farm Management |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea25:360691 |
| By: | Giuseppe Attanasi; Giuseppe Ciccarone; Giovanni Di Bartolomeo |
| Abstract: | We propose a simple model that connects creativity to rational inattention, introducing a new formal channel through which imprecise information generates creative benefits. While imprecision usually entails costs, it can also make creativity a complementary dimension of information acquisition, reshaping the trade-off between attention and decision quality. Our main result is that creativity reduces the effective cost of information processing. |
| Keywords: | Selective Attention; Information Processing Costs; Cognitive Constraints; Innovation |
| JEL: | D90 O31 D80 |
| Date: | 2026–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sap:wpaper:wp268 |