Quarterly Journal of Economics Vol. 123 No. 3 2008
Parental Guidance and Supervised Learning*
Abstract
We propose a simple theoretical model of supervised learning that is potentially useful to interpret a number of empirical phenomena relevant to the nature-nurture debate. The model captures a basic trade-off between sheltering the child from the consequences of his mistakes and allowing him to learn from experience. We characterize the optimal parenting policy and its comparative-statics properties. We then show that key features of the optimal policy can be useful to interpret provocative findings from behavioral genetics.
- DOI
- 10.1162/qjec.2008.123.3.1161
- Volume
- 123
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 1161-1195
- Language
- en
- Sources
- bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref