TY  - JOUR
AU  - Benjamin,Daniel J.
AU  - Choi,James J.
AU  - Strickland,A. Joshua
TI  - Social Identity and Preferences
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 13309
PY  - 2007
Y2  - August 2007
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w13309
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w13309.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Daniel Benjamin
Department of Economics
Uris Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-7601
E-Mail: daniel.benjamin@gmail.com

James J. Choi
Yale School of Management
135 Prospect Street
P.O. Box 208200
New Haven, CT 06520-8200
E-Mail: james.choi@yale.edu

A. Joshu. Strickland
Yale Law School
127 Wall St.
New Haven, CT 06511
E-Mail: a.joshua.strickland@gmail.com
AB  - We provide evidence that time and risk preference norms tied to social identities help shape observed U.S. demographic patterns in economic outcomes. We identify the marginal effect of norms by measuring how laboratory subjects’ choices change when an aspect of social identity is made salient. We find that when ethnic identity is salient to Asian-American subjects, they make more patient choices. When we make race salient to black subjects, non-immigrant blacks (but not immigrant blacks) make more risk-averse choices. Making gender identity salient causes choices to conform to gender norms the subject believes are relatively more common.
ER  -