Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/58636 
Year of Publication: 
2011
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 6131
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
The importance of noncognitive childhood skills in predicting higher wages is well documented in economics. This paper studies the reverse. Using surveys of lottery winners, we analyze the effects of unearned income on the Big Five personality traits. After correcting for potential endogeneity problems from prize sizes, we find that unearned income improves traits that predict pro-social and cooperative behaviors, preferences for social contact, empathy, and gregariousness, and reduces individuals' tendency toward negative emotional states: known in economics literature as incentive-enhancing personality traits. Our results support the possibility of scope for later interventions to improve the personality traits of adults.
Subjects: 
noncognitive skills
personality traits
lottery winners
instrumental variables
unearned income
JEL: 
D3
J24
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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