Fostering Patience in the Classroom: Results from Randomized Educational Intervention

S-Tier
Journal: Journal of Political Economy
Year: 2018
Volume: 126
Issue: 5
Pages: 1865 - 1911

Authors (2)

Score contribution per author:

4.022 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We evaluate the impact of a randomized educational intervention on children's intertemporal choices. The intervention aims to improve the ability to imagine future selves and encourages forward-looking behavior using a structured curriculum delivered by children's own trained teachers. We find that treated students make more patient intertemporal decisions in incentivized experimental tasks. The results persist almost 3 years after the intervention, replicate well in a different sample, and are robust across different experimental elicitation methods. The effects also extend beyond experimental outcomes: we find that treated students are significantly less likely to receive a low "behavior grade."

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:ucp:jpolec:doi:10.1086/699007
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-24