Time Preferences Across Language Groups: Evidence on Intertemporal Choices from the Swiss Language Border

Abstract

Differences in patience across language groups have recently received increased attention in the literature. We provide evidence on this issue by measuring time preferences of French and German speakers from a bilingual municipality in Switzerland where institutions are shared and socio-economic conditions are very similar across the two language groups. We find that French speakers are significantly more impatient than German speakers, and differences are particularly pronounced when payments in the present are involved. Estimates of preference parameters of a quasi-hyperbolic discounting model suggest significant differences in both present bias (β) and the long-run discount factor (δ) across language groups.