Brown Heather, van der Pol Marjon
Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Health Econ. 2014 Dec;23(12):1493-501. doi: 10.1002/hec.2987. Epub 2013 Aug 19.
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. Although 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 are used. Estimates by 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.
有证据表明，母亲和子女的吸烟行为存在关联。对于这种代际传递发生的机制，我们了解甚少。本文探讨了时间偏好的作用。尽管时间偏好可能具有遗传性，且与健康投资相关，但其在吸烟行为代际传递中的作用此前尚未得到研究。本文是第一篇对此进行实证检验的论文。我们使用了来自澳大利亚家庭、收入与劳动力动态调查（2002年、2003年、2004年、2006年和2008年）的数据。使用混合概率模型进行的估计表明，以财务规划期限衡量的母亲时间偏好，对其子女成为吸烟者的可能性没有直接影响。然而，母亲的时间偏好存在间接影响。母亲吸烟且规划期限较短的儿子，比母亲规划期限较长的儿子吸烟的可能性高6%；母亲吸烟且规划期限较短的女儿，比母亲规划期限较长的女儿自己吸烟的可能性高7%。
