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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Heather BrownORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Evidence suggests that maternal and offspring smoking behaviour is correlated. Little is known about the mechanisms through which this intergenerational transfer occurs. This paper explores the role of time preferences. Whilst time preference is likely to be heritable and correlated with health investments, its role in the intergenerational transmission of smoking has not been explored previously. This is the first paper to empirically test this. Data (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, and-2008) from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) are used. Estimates using a pooled probit model, show that there is not a direct effect of maternal time preference, measured in terms of financial planning horizon, on the likelihood that their offspring is a smoker. However, there is an indirect effect of maternal time preference. Sons of mothers that are smokers and have a shorter planning horizon are 6% more likely to smoke than if their mother had a longer planning horizon and daughters of mothers that smoke with a shorter planning horizon are 7% more likely to smoke themselves than if their mother had a longer planning horizon.
Author(s): Brown H, van der Pol M
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Health Economics
Year: 2014
Volume: 23
Issue: 12
Pages: 1493-1501
Print publication date: 01/12/2014
Online publication date: 19/08/2013
Acceptance date: 16/07/2013
Date deposited: 15/01/2015
ISSN (print): 1057-9230
ISSN (electronic): 1099-1050
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Ltd
URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.2987
DOI: 10.1002/hec.2987
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