Evolution & Human Behavior
Volume 20, Issue 4 , Pages 249-256, July 1999

Covariates of Private Time Preference:

A Pilot Study Among the Tsimane' Indians of the Bolivian Rain Forest

  • Ricardo Godoy

      Affiliations

    • Department of Anthropology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA USA
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress reprint requests and correspondence to: Ricardo Godoy, Department of Anthropology, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02254, U.S.A.
    • ,
  • Marc Jacobson

      Affiliations

    • Harvard University, Cambridge, MA USA

Received 23 June 1998; received in revised form 25 March 1999

Abstract 

A pilot study with 257 adult (16+ years) Tsimane' Indians, a group of horticulturalists and foragers, in the Bolivian rain forest was done to test hypotheses about the socioeconomic and demographic covariates of time preference. Subjects were asked to make a choice between receiving one candy now or two candies at the end of an interview that lasted 1.5 to 2 h. Results of a multivariate probit regression suggest that education was associated with greater desire for immediate gratification and illness was associated with greater likelihood of willingness to wait. Age, sex, nutritional status, income, and wealth played a weak role in willingness to delay gratification.

Keywords:  Impatience, Private time preference, Tsimane' Indian's Delay of gratification, Discount rate, Bolivia

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PII: S1090-5138(99)00009-4

Evolution & Human Behavior
Volume 20, Issue 4 , Pages 249-256, July 1999

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