Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP10029
Authors: Matthias Doepke; Fabrizio Zilibotti
Abstract: We develop a theory of intergenerational transmission of preferences that rationalizes the choice between alternative parenting styles (as set out in Baumrind 1967). Parents maximize an objective function that combines Beckerian altruism and paternalism towards children. They can affect their children's choices via two channels: either by influencing children's preferences or by imposing direct restrictions on their choice sets. Different parenting styles (authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive) emerge as equilibrium outcomes, and are affected both by parental preferences and by the socioeconomic environment. Parenting style, in turn, feeds back into the children's welfare and economic success. The theory is consistent with the decline of authoritarian parenting observed in industrialized countries, and with the greater prevalence of more permissive parenting in countries characterized by low inequality.
Keywords: intergenerational preference transmission; occupational choice; parenting style; paternalism
JEL Codes: D10; J10; O10; O40
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| parenting style (J13) | children's welfare (I39) |
| parenting style (J13) | children's economic success (J13) |
| authoritarian parenting (J12) | lower independence (H77) |
| lower independence (H77) | potential negative impacts on children's long-term success (I24) |
| authoritative parenting (K36) | enhance children's future-oriented investments (J13) |
| enhance children's future-oriented investments (J13) | benefit children's welfare (I39) |
| economic returns to independence (I26) | prevalence of authoritarian parenting (J12) |
| economic returns to independence (I26) | prevalence of authoritative parenting (J12) |
| stakes for children's success (I24) | attractiveness of permissive parenting (J13) |