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1、Article with Chinese Guide and Exercises for Lecture 10 Tiger Moms and Helicopter Parents:the Economics of Parenting Style Matthias Doepke,Fabrizio Zilibotti 11 October 2014 Since time immemorial,parents have struggled with the question of how best to raise their children.This column argues that the
2、 choice of parenting style is driven by incentives.Parents weigh the expected costs and benefits of implementing a certain parenting style.The popularity of the authoritarian style is declining because the economic returns to the independence of children have risen.The rising inequality implies high
3、er returns to education.This calls for pushier parenting styles,such as the authoritative one.A decline in inequality is likely to prompt a more relaxed parenting.1 Since time immemorial1,parents have struggled with the question of how best to raise their children.For most of history,the experts of
4、the day strongly advised a firm hand.The Bible states that“he who spares the rod hates his son,but he who loves him is careful to discipline him”,Proverbs 13:24),and Plumb(1975)notes that of“two hundred counsels2 of advice on child-rearing prior to 1770,only three failed to recommend that fathers be
5、at their children”.It was only in the 20th century that the views of education reformers,such as Maria Montessori,gained wide currency,culminating in3 the popularity of anti-authoritarian4 education in the 1960s and 1970s.However,recently the tide has been turning again.2 In 2011,Amy Chua sparked a
6、heated debate with her book“Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother”in which she advocates for a strict,rule-oriented model of parenting.While the methods promoted by Chua triggered much disagreement,“Tiger Mom”parenting is part of a wider trend towards more involved,time-intensive parenting among the educa
7、ted classes.Time-use surveys reveal that highly educated parents spend considerably more time on parenting than a generation ago(even though women also spend more time at work;see Ramey and Ramey 2010),and the term helicopter parenting(to denote anxious parents permanently hovering over their kids,g
8、uiding and protecting them)has gained wide currency.Parenting style in developmental psychology5 1time immemorial mmrl 远古以来；太古时代；很久以前；法律不能追溯的年代 2 counsel kans()l n.法律顾问；忠告；3culminate klmnet vi.到绝顶；达到高潮 culminate in 到达顶点，以而告终 4 authoritarian rtern n.权力主义者；独裁主义者 adj.独裁主义的；权力主义的 5developmental psycholo
9、gy 发展心理学 3 In developmental psychology,the broad strategies that parents employ in raising their children are known as parenting styles.Starting with a seminal contribution6 by Baumrind(1967),a distinction between three main parenting styles has taken hold:Authoritarian,authoritative,and permissive.
10、As the name suggests,the authoritarian style is one where parents demand obedience from their children and exercise strict control;this style is often associated with corporal punishment7.Permissive parents,in contrast,follow a laissez-faire8 approach and let children make their own choices.The auth
11、oritative style is one where parents attempt to influence their childrens choices,but they do so by reasoning with them and by shaping their values,rather than through command and discipline.An economic explanation of parenting style 4 Much of the popular literature9 on parenting is based on the pre
12、mise that parents dont know how best to raise their children,and that they need to be educated to adopt the best methods.From this perspective,when parents adopt the wrong parenting style,they are making a mistake that is due to lack of information.5 In our own research on parenting styles(Doepke an
13、d Zilibotti 2014),we are taking a different track that is based on the economic approach to human behaviour.We argue that parents,by and large10,know about the pros and cons of different parenting strategies,and that their own choice of parenting style is driven by incentives11.With this approach,th
14、e research task is not to tell parents what they should do,but to understand the economic incentives that drive what parents actually do.6 In our theory,parents have both altruistic12 and paternalistic13 feelings towards their children.While parents generally care about their childrens wellbeing14(a
15、ltruism),they may also disagree with some of the choices that their children make(paternalism).For example,parents and children often have different views regarding the optimal level of risk taking(say,in motor traffic or in experimenting with recreational drugs15).As a result,parents have an incent
16、ive to attempt to influence their childrens choices in life.6 seminal semn()l adj.种子的；精液的 a seminal contribution 开创性的贡献 7corporal kp()r()l adj.身体上的 corporal punishment 体罚 8laissez-faire n.放任政策；不干涉主义 adj.自由放任的；放任主义的 9这里指文献 10by and large 大体上 11 incentive nsentv n.动机；刺激 12 altruistic ltrstk adj.利他的；无私
17、心的 13 paternalistic p,t:nlistik adj.家长式作风的 14wellbeing n.幸福；福利 15recreational drug 消遣性药物；娱乐性药物（在玩乐的场合使用的药物，实际是毒品）There are three types of strategies available to influence kids.7 First,parents can use coercion16,i.e.,they can forbid certain behaviours or impose specific choices on their children.Thi
18、s approach corresponds to an authoritarian parenting style.8 Second,parents can use persuasion17,i.e.,they can attempt to shape childrens values and preferences in such a way that children will make on their own accord the choices desired by the parent.For example,parents may instill in their childr
19、en a strong work ethic or an aversion18 to recreational drugs.This approach amounts to19 authoritative parenting.9 As a third option,parents can abstain from influencing children altogether and let them make their own choices,which is the permissive parenting style.10 In our theory,permissive parent
20、ing is not a form of neglect,but rather a parenting strategy whereby parents respect their children choices even when these do not conform to the parents wishes.The costs and benefits of alternative parenting styles 11 From the perspective of the parents,engaging in one of the intensive parenting st
21、yles that aim to control the childrens behaviour(authoritarian and authoritative)comes with costs.Some of these costs are direct(the time and effort spent on controlling the children or on instilling the appropriate values in them),and others are indirect(parents care about their children,and take i
22、nto account the suffering that aggressive parenting imposes on the kids).A first prediction of the economic theory of parenting style is,therefore,that parents will be willing to bear the costs of intensive parenting only if the return is sufficiently high.So what is the return to intensive parentin
23、g?12 The benefit of intensive parenting(authoritarian or authoritative)is that the children are more likely to engage in the choices that the parents consider appropriate.The return20,16 coercion k()n n.强制；强迫；高压政治；威压 17 persuasion pswe()n n.说服；说服力 18 aversion v()n n.厌恶 19amounts to 相当于 20return n.这里
24、指回报，收益 therefore,depends on the stakes21,i.e.,the extent to which it matters whether the children make the right or wrong choices from the parents perspective.13 When it comes to risky adolescent behaviours,for example,one factor that matters is the riskiness of the environment,i.e.,the extent to wh
25、ich adolescents can get into trouble by taking dangerous actions.In an urban neighbourhood characterised by gangs,violence,and wide availability of drugs,making the wrong choices and keeping the wrong company can ruin a childs life,and realising what is at stake22,concerned parents may intervene23 s
26、trongly(or alternatively24,move to a different neighbourhood).In contrast,in a safe rural area lacking such temptations,parents can easier afford a relaxed approach.The role of the return to education and inequality 14 While many parents worry about juvenile25 risks,we believe that the returns to ef
27、fort in education and work during adolescence26 are even more important.A seemingly universal area of disagreement between parents and children is the trade-off27 between working hard for school and for ones career versus having fun with friends and other immediate enjoyments.Few parents wish that t
28、heir kids blew off homework more often in exchange for some instant pleasure.This conflict can be interpreted as a difference in time preference parents worry more about the long-term consequences of childrens behaviour(such as studying for school)than do the kids themselves.Hence,many parents push
29、their children towards harder work,either through coercion(such as grounding children,i.e.,not allowing them to spend time with friends)or through sustained indoctrination28 with a strong work ethic and a striving for success.15 The return to pushing children hard consists of the increased likelihoo
30、d that they will do well later in life.How important this is to parents depends crucially on the degree of economic inequality,and in particular on the return to education.In an economy where education and effort are highly rewarded and where people with little education struggle,parents will be hig
31、hly motivated to push their children hard.16 Thus,we expect economic inequality to be associated with intensive(authoritarian and authoritative)parenting styles.21stakes 赌注 22be at a stake 处于险境 23intervene ntvin vi.干涉；调停；插入 24alternatively 或者 25 juvenile duvnal n.青少年；少年读物 adj.青少年的；幼稚的 26 adolescence
32、 dles()ns n.青春期 27 trade-off treidf n.交换，交易；权衡 28 indoctrination in,dktrinein n.教化；教导 17 In contrast,in an economy where there is little inequality and artists and school dropouts earn only slightly less than doctors and engineers,parents can afford a more relaxed attitude,and permissive parenting s
33、hould be more prevalent29.Cross-country evidence on intensive versus permissive parenting 18 In our research,we show that cross-country data on parenting styles are consistent with30 the prediction of a link between parenting and income inequality.Parenting style can be measured using the World Valu
34、e Survey,where people are asked which attitudes or values they find most important in child rearing31.Here,emphasising the values of imagination and independence in rearing children would correspond to a more permissive parenting style,whereas authoritarian and authoritative parents would be more li
35、kely to insist on the importance of working hard.Figures 1 to 3 show the association of these values(i.e.,the fraction of parents in a given country that consider the value important)with a measure of income inequality,namely the Gini index32(higher values correspond to more inequality).As predicted
36、 by the theory,across OECD33 economies parents in more unequal countries place more emphasis on hard work,and consider imagination and independence to be less important.Conversely,Scandinavian parents emphasise the value of imagination and independence,consistent with the casual observation that in
37、these countries children enjoy more leeway34 than their peers in Southern Europe and the US.The pattern also holds up for developing countries.As an example,Figure 4 adds China to the picture a country with pronounced35 economic inequality.As predicted by the theory,in China emphasising the importan
38、ce of hard work is almost universal among parents.Figure 1.Income inequality measured by Gini coefficient versus importance of emphasising imagination in raising children across OECD countries 29 prevalent prev()l()nt adj.流行的；普遍的，广传的 30 consistent knsst()nt adj.始终如一的，一致的 in consistent with 与保持一致 31r
39、ear r v.养育 child rearing 育儿 32Gini index 基尼系数，用来衡量收入或贫富差距的指标 33 OECD abbr.经济合作与发展组织（Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development）34 leeway liwe n.余地 35 pronounced prnanst adj.显著的 Figure 2.Income inequality measured by Gini coefficient versus importance of emphasising independence in raisin
40、g children across OECD countries Figure 3.Income inequality measured by Gini coefficient versus importance of emphasising working hard in raising children across OECD countries Figure 4.Income inequality measured by Gini coefficient versus importance of emphasising working hard in raising children a
41、cross OECD countries and China The rise of authoritative parenting 19 Regarding the recent rise of more intensive36 parenting in Western countries(Tiger Mom,helicopter parents,etc.),our theory offers a straightforward37 explanation.In the 1960s and 1970s,when anti-authoritative,laissez-faire parenti
42、ng reached the peak of its popularity,economic inequality was also at an all-time low.Given low returns to education,there was little reason for parents to exert major efforts to push their children.The last 30 years,in contrast,have seen ever-rising inequality combined with increasing returns to ed
43、ucation.Children who fail to complete their education can no longer look forward to a secure,middle-class life,and consequently parents have redoubled their efforts to ensure their childrens success.20 A final question is why among the intensive parenting strategies,modern parents increasingly rely
44、on the subtle indoctrination methods of the authoritative style,rather than the command-and-control approach of an authoritarian parent.The methods of the Tiger Mom notwithstanding38(which have both authoritarian and authoritative elements),traditional authoritarian parenting with its ample use of c
45、orporal punishment is becoming less common in many countries.From the economic perspective,the advantage of the authoritative approach is that the children,once successfully indoctrinated39,no longer need to be monitored to do the right thing they will implement the parents preferred choices on thei
46、r own accord.Hence,authoritative parenting is more attractive than the authoritarian style when monitoring is difficult or impossible.We believe that the authoritarian style is declining because the economic returns to the independence of children have risen.The crucial phase of education is now oft
47、en the college or post-graduate level rather than elementary or secondary school.Once off to university,children are no longer under the direct control of their parents,and they will succeed only if the appropriate values(such as valuing hard work and academic success)have already been instilled40 i
48、n them.The future of parenting 21 Given that the spread of higher education is unlikely to reverse,our theory predicts that authoritarian parenting will continue its current decline;a return to the tough methods advocated by the Bible is unlikely.Regarding permissive versus authoritative parenting,t
49、he evolution of the return to education is what matters.If the march towards higher inequality continues,the current era will mark the beginning of a sustained trend towards ever pushier parenting.If,on the other hand,todays inequality trends prove to be an aberration and we 36 intensive ntensv adj.
50、加强的；集中的 37 straightforward stretfwd adj.简单的；坦率的；明确的 38 notwithstanding ntwst nd;-w-conj.虽然 39 indoctrinate ndktrnet vt.灌输；教导 40instill instil vt.徐徐滴入；逐渐灌输 return to the less unequal times of the 1970s,future children(and their parents)will be able to enjoy a relaxed childhood once more.References Ba