Negotiating a better future: how interpersonal skills facilitate inter- ...

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By n ashraf · 2017 · cited by 88 — two children with the same ability and household financial resources can lead very different lives depending on how much human capital ...
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NegotiatingaBetterFuture:HowInterpersonalSkillsFacilitateInter-GenerationalInvestment∗NavaAshraf†NatalieBau‡CorinneLow§KathleenMcGinn¶July22,2017AbstractTwochildrenwiththesameabilityandhouseholdfinancialresourcescanleadverydifferentlivesdependingonhowmuchhumancapitalinvestmenttheyreceive.Inthispaper,weusearandomizedcontroltrialthattaughtgirlsnegotiationskillstoex-plorehowintra-householdbargainingdetermineshumancapitalinvestment.Wefirststudytheeffectsofthetraininginalab-in-the-fieldinvestmentgamethatsimulatesparents’educationalinvestmentdecisionsunderexogenouslyvariedconditionsofcom-munication.Negotiationtrainingleadstobetteroutcomesfordaughterswhentheycancommunicatewiththeirparentsandmoveshouseholdsclosertotheefficientfron-tier.Thesefindingsareconsistentwithanincompletecontractingmodelofparentalinvestment,inwhichimperfectlyaltruisticparentsinvestlessthanisefficientintheirdaughters,andnegotiationallowsdaughterstodevelopmorecooperativerelationshipswithparents.Crucially,wefindthatnegotiationtraining...