Patience and Subnational Differences in Human Capital

Regional Analysis with Facebook Interests

Dados Bibliográficos

ID9704411
AutoresEric A Hanushek (0000-0002-7090-7535, Hoover Institution, Stanford University , NBER, USA, CESifo & IZA), Lavinia Kinne (0009-0007-8787-8770, DIW Berlin ,), Pietro Sancassani (0000-0002-3781-437X, ifo Institute & University of Munich), Ludger Woessmann (0000-0002-6912-2319, University of Munich, ifo Institute, CESifo, IZA, Germany, Hoover Institution & Stanford University)
Ano2025
Data de publicação2025-06-18
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoThe Economic Journal (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0013-0133 • E-ISSN: 1468-0297
EditoraOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/ej/ueaf045
OpenAlexW4411715667
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas34

Decisions to invest in human capital depend on people's time preferences. This paper shows that differences in patience are closely related to substantial subnational differences in educational achievement, leading to new perspectives on long-standing within-country disparities. We use social media data—Facebook interests—to construct novel regional measures of patience within Italy and the United States. The approach is first validated with a cross-country analysis of patience and Facebook interests. We then show that patience is strongly positively associated with student achievement across regions in both countries, accounting for three-quarters of the achievement variation across Italian regions and one-third across US states. The finding is confirmed in an identification strategy employing variation in ancestry countries of the current populations of US states. Results hold for six other countries with more limited regional achievement data

Business · Capital (architecture · Economics · Geography · Human capital · Market economy · Patience · Public economics · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality · Migration and Labor Dynamics · Psychology · Regional Development and Policy · Social Psychology