Temporal Instability of Risk Preference among the Poor: Evidence from Payday Cycles
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics · 2023 · Mika Akesaka、Peter Eibich、Chie Hanaoka、Hitoshi Shigeoka
中文摘要
贫困者靠薪水度日，并反复暴露于强烈的周期性收入波动中。我们研究此类收入波动是否会影响其风险偏好。如果风险偏好在发薪日前后发生暂时性改变，发薪日前做出的最优决策在发薪日后可能不再最优，这可能会加剧贫困。利用美国社会保障发薪周期，我们发现重度依赖社会保障的贫困者在发薪日前风险容忍度变得更高。相较于发薪日前的认知衰退，心理健康恶化与相对剥夺感更可能在其中发挥作用。我们在日本老年人中发现了相似证据。(JEL D81, D91, G51, I12, I32, J14, J31)
Abstract
The poor live paycheck to paycheck and are repeatedly exposed to strong cyclical income fluctuations. We investigate whether such income fluctuations affect their risk preference. If risk preference temporarily changes around payday, optimal decisions made before payday may no longer be optimal afterward, which could reinforce poverty. By exploiting social security payday cycles in the United States, we find that the poor relying heavily on social security become more risk tolerant before payday. More than cognitive decline before payday, the deterioration of mental health and relative deprivation are likely to play a role. We find similar evidence among the Japanese elderly. (JEL D81, D91, G51, I12, I32, J14, J31)