The Effect of Education on Time Preferences

I examine whether education increases patience. Admission decisions in a public college in Mexico are determined through a lottery. I find that applicants who were successful in the draw were more likely to study in the following years. I surveyed the applicants to this college almost two years after the admission decision was made and measured their time preferences with a series of hypothetical inter-temporal choice questions. I find that individuals who were successful in the admission lottery were, on average, more patient. I argue that this evidence points towards a causal effect of education on time preferences. t I am thankful for useful comments from Leandro Carvalho , Damon Clark, Henry Farber, David Lee, Jesse Rothstein, Nathan Wozny and participants in seminars at Princeton University and at the conference of the Network on Inequality and Poverty.