American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
The Effect of Language on Economic Behavior: Evidence from Savings Rates, Health Behaviors, and Retirement Assets
American Economic Review
vol. 103,
no. 2, April 2013
(pp. 690–731)
Abstract
Languages differ widely in the ways they encode time. I test the hypothesis that the languages that grammatically associate the future and the present, foster future-oriented behavior. This prediction arises naturally when well-documented effects of language structure are merged with models of intertemporal choice. Empirically, I find that speakers of such languages: save more, retire with more wealth, smoke less, practice safer sex, and are less obese. This holds both across countries and within countries when comparing demographically similar native households. The evidence does not support the most obvious forms of common causation. I discuss implications for theories of intertemporal choice. (JEL D14, D83, E21, I12, J26, Z13)Citation
Chen, M Keith. 2013. "The Effect of Language on Economic Behavior: Evidence from Savings Rates, Health Behaviors, and Retirement Assets." American Economic Review, 103 (2): 690–731. DOI: 10.1257/aer.103.2.690Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D14 Personal Finance
- D83 Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief
- E21 Macroeconomics: Consumption; Saving; Wealth
- I12 Health Production
- J26 Retirement; Retirement Policies
- Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Social and Economic Stratification