On the stability of risk and time preferences amid the COVID-19 pandemic

• Published in: Experimental economics : a journal of the Economic Science Association Vol. 25; no. 3; pp. 759 - 794
• Main Authors: Drichoutis, Andreas C., Nayga, Rodolfo M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.06.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Behavioral/Experimental Economics; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Curfews; Economic theory; Economic Theory/Quantitative Economics/Mathematical Methods; Economics; Economics and Finance; Game Theory; Global economy; Microeconomics; Operations Research/Decision Theory; Original Paper; Pandemics; Public health; Relaxation; Social and Behav. Sciences; Undergraduate students; Q54; Discount rates; D12; Pandemic; Natural disaster; Risk preferences; C90; D81; D91; Time preferences
• ISSN: 1386-4157; 1573-6938
• DOI: 10.1007/s10683-021-09727-6

We elicited incentivized measures of risk and time preferences from a sample of undergraduate students in Athens, Greece, in waves that preceded and overlapped with the COVID-19 pandemic. We exploited the timing of several events that occurred in the course of the pandemic (e.g., first occurrence of cases and deaths, curfew, relaxation of curfew etc.) and estimated structural parameters for various theories of risk and time preferences comparing these with pre-pandemic estimates. We find no effect between the different waves or other key events of the pandemic, despite the fact that we have about 1000 responses across all waves. Overall, our subjects exhibit intertemporal stability of risk and time preferences despite the significant effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on public health and the global economy.