Cross-country relationships between life expectancy,intertemporal choice and age at first birth |
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Authors: | Adam Bulley Gillian V. Pepper |
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Affiliation: | 1. The University of Queensland, St. Lucia QLD 4072, Australia;2. Centre for Behaviour and Evolution, Newcastle University, Henry Wellcome Building, Framlington Place, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK |
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Abstract: | Humans, like other animals, typically discount the value of delayed rewards relative to those available in the present. From an evolutionary perspective, prioritising immediate rewards is a predictable response to high local mortality rates, as is an acceleration of reproductive scheduling. In a sample of 46 countries, we explored the cross-country relationships between average life expectancy, intertemporal choice, and women's age at first birth. We find that, across countries, lower life expectancy is associated with both a smaller percentage of people willing to wait for a larger but delayed reward, as well as a younger age at first birth. These results, which hold when controlling for region and economic pressure (GDP-per capita), dovetail with findings at the individual level to suggest that life expectancy is an important ecological predictor of both intertemporal and reproductive decision-making. |
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Keywords: | Intertemporal choice Delay discounting Evolution Mortality Age at first birth Human behavioral ecology |
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