Genetic Variation in Preferences for Giving and Risk Taking
Name
Cesarini-2009-GENETIC VARIATION IN PREFERENCES FOR GIVING AND RISK TAKING.pdf
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211.86 KB
Format
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Checksum (MD5)
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Author(s)
Cesarini, David Alexander
Dawes, Christopher T.
Johannesson, Magnus
Lichtenstein, Paul
Wallace, Bjorn
Alternative Title
GENETIC VARIATION IN PREFERENCES FOR GIVING AND RISK TAKING
Date Issued
May 2009
Journal
Quarterly Journal of Economics
Publisher
MIT Press
Citation
Cesearini, David. "Genetic Variation in Preferences for Giving and Risk Taking." Quarterly Journal of Economics, 124.2 (May 2009) pp.809-842. ©2009 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
In this paper, we use the classical twin design to provide estimates of genetic
and environmental influences on experimentally elicited preferences for risk and
giving. Using standardmethods from behavior genetics, we find strong prima facie
evidence that these preferences are broadly heritable and our estimates suggest
that genetic differences explain approximately twenty percent of individual variation.
The results thus shed light on an important source of individual variation
in preferences, a source that has hitherto been largely neglected in the economics
literature.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Economics
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