Aggregate Shocks and the Formation of Preferences and Beliefs

Aggregate Shocks and the Formation of Preferences and Beliefs
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Volume/Issue: Volume 2024 Issue 195
Publication date: September 2024
ISBN: 9798400288654
$20.00
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Topics covered in this book

This title contains information about the following subjects. Click on a subject if you would like to see other titles with the same subjects.

Inflation , Economics- Macroeconomics , Natural Disasters , Emigration and Immigration , trade shock , inflation experience , effect of shock , economic shock , beliefs to the right , Economic recession , Natural disasters , Migration , Inflation , Global , Europe

Summary

A growing body of work has shown that aggregate shocks affect the formation of preferences and beliefs. This article reviews evidence from sociology, social psychology, and economics to assess the relevance of aggregate shocks, whether the period in which they are experienced matters, and whether they alter preferences and beliefs permanently. We review the literature on recessions, inflation experiences, trade shocks, and aggregate non-economic shocks including migrations, wars, terrorist attacks, pandemics, and natural disasters. For each aggregate shock, we discuss the main empirical methodologies, their limitations, and their comparability across studies, outlining possible mechanisms whenever available. A few conclusions emerge consistently across the reviewed papers. First, aggregate shocks impact many preferences and beliefs, including political preferences, risk attitudes, and trust in institutions. Second, the effect of shocks experienced during young adulthood is stronger and longer lasting. Third, negative aggregate economic shocks generally move preferences and beliefs to the right of the political spectrum, while the effects of non-economic adverse shocks are more heterogeneous and depend on the context.