TY  - JOUR
AU  - Doepke, Matthias
AU  - Zilibotti, Fabrizio
TI  - Occupational Choice and the Spirit of Capitalism
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 12917
PY  - 2007
Y2  - February 2007
DO  - 10.3386/w12917
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w12917
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w12917.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Matthias Doepke
Northwestern University
Department of Economics
2211 Campus Drive
Evanston, IL 60208
Tel: 847-491-8207
E-Mail: doepke@northwestern.edu

Fabrizio Zilibotti
Department of Economics
Yale University
28 Hillhouse Avenue
New Haven, CT 06520
Tel: 203/432-9561
E-Mail: fabrizio.zilibotti@yale.edu
AB  - The British Industrial Revolution triggered a reversal in the social order of society whereby the landed elite was replaced by industrial capitalists rising from the middle classes as the economically dominant group. Many observers have linked this transformation to the contrast in values between a hard-working and frugal middle class and an upper class imbued with disdain for work. We propose an economic theory of preference formation where both the divergence of attitudes across social classes and the ensuing reversal of economic fortunes are equilibrium outcomes. In our theory, parents shape their children's preferences in response to economic incentives. This results in the stratification of society along occupational lines. Middle-class families in occupations that require effort, skill, and experience develop patience and work ethics, whereas upper-class families relying on rental income cultivate a refined taste for leisure. These class-specific attitudes, which are rooted in the nature of pre-industrial professions, become key determinants of success once industrialization transforms the economic landscape.
ER  -