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Exposure to Poverty and Productivity
Dalton,Patricio Gonzalez Jimenez,Victor Noussair,Charles
Dalton,Patricio
Gonzalez Jimenez,Victor
Noussair,Charles
Abstract
We study whether poverty can induce affective states that decrease productivity. In a controlled laboratory setting, we find that subjects randomly assigned to a treatment, in which they view a video featuring individuals that live in extreme poverty, exhibit lower subsequent productivity compared to subjects assigned to a control treatment. Questionnaire responses, as well as facial recognition software, provide quantitative measures of the affective state evoked by the two treatments. Subjects exposed to images of poverty experience a more negative affective state than those in the control treatment. Further analyses show that individuals in a more positive emotional state exhibit less of a treatment effect. Also, those who exhibit greater attentiveness upon viewing the poverty video are less productive. The results are consistent with the notion that exposure to poverty can induce a psychological state in individuals that adversely affects productivity.
Description
Date
2016-07-27
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Publisher
CentER, Center for Economic Research
Files
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2016_027.pdf
Adobe PDF, 476.78 KB
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Keywords
poverty, productivity, mood, emotions, limited attention, experiments, D03 - Behavioral Microeconomics ; Underlying Principles, J24 - Human Capital ; Skills ; Occupational Choice ; Labor Productivity, C91 - Laboratory, Individual Behavior, SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
Citation
Dalton, P, Gonzalez Jimenez, V & Noussair, C 2016 'Exposure to Poverty and Productivity' CentER Discussion Paper, vol. 2016-027, CentER, Center for Economic Research, Tilburg.
License
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess