Authors
Thomas F Epper, Ernst Fehr, Kristoffer B Hvidberg, Claus T Kreiner, Søren Leth-Petersen, Basit Zafar
Published in
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Volume 123. Issue 32. Pages e2610891123. Aug 11, 2026. Epub Aug 04, 2026.
Abstract
We examine whether individual preferences predict higher-education choices. According to standard human capital theory, differences in individuals' time and risk preferences lead to differences in educational investments. Testing this hypothesis is challenging, as it requires measuring individuals' preferences, doing so before they make educational investments, and subsequently observing their educational choices. We combine incentivized, experimentally elicited measures of time and risk preferences for a large, representative sample of 18- to 19-y-old Danes with administrative data on subsequent higher-education choices, program-specific earnings trajectories, prior school performance, and family background. In line with theory, we find that more patient individuals choose longer education programs and programs with steeper early-career earnings profiles, while more risk-averse individuals select programs with lower earnings dispersion and reduced downside risk. These relationships remain strong after controlling for cognitive ability, prior academic performance, and family background. Our findings suggest that preferences have a substantial impact on real-world educational investments and have implications for educational sorting.
PMID:
42550896
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 05 Aug 2026.
Read full publication at:
Please sign in
to see all details.
Advertisement
Stats
- Recommendations n/a n/a positive of 0 vote(s)
- Views 33
- Comments 0