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Discussion Paper Details

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Title: Parenting with Style: Altruism and Paternalism in Intergenerational Preference Transmission

Author(s): Matthias Doepke and Fabrizio Zilibotti

Publication Date: June 2014

Keyword(s): Intergenerational Preference Transmission, Occupational Choice, Parenting Style and Paternalism

Programme Area(s): International Macroeconomics

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.

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Bibliographic Reference

Doepke, M and Zilibotti, F. 2014. 'Parenting with Style: Altruism and Paternalism in Intergenerational Preference Transmission'. London, Centre for Economic Policy Research. https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=10029