The development of economic skills in children
type: Dataset
description: Given the importance of economic interactions in European societies, we have relatively little knowledge about children’s decision-making in an economic context. In this work, I tested 802 children aged from 14 months to 10 years in experimental situations based on an exchange task in order (1) to determine the age from which children understand that they can use gifts and exchanges as means to maximize their gain, (2) to test whether they understand the temporal cost associated with an exchange, (3) to study whether they are able to adjust their investment according to the exchange partner(s), and (4) to evaluate their capacity to take a risk during an exchange. For each question, I aimed at identifying potential parallels between the efficiency of economic decisions and the stages of cognitive development already known in children. Results revealed a major shift between 18 and 22 months in the ability to give and exchange. Children were able to adjust their waiting time to the quantity of reward being offered from the age of 3. Finally, I found that children aged over 5 could adapt their investment according to the behavior of partners and the risk of losing related to an exchange. It appears that children’s competencies match what is known of the stages of development in numeric competency, temporal judgment and understanding of others’ mental states. This work should be conducted in other societies with different cultural and economic norms in order to assess the generality of the results found in this thesis.
identifier: NNT: 2012STRAJ004
issued: 2026-05-19T11:26:05.692933
language: fr
modified: 2026-05-19T11:26:05.692939
contact point: Organization
  fn: CCSD
keyword: attente
keyword: children
keyword: cognition
keyword: decision-making
keyword: don
keyword: echange
keyword: economics
keyword: economie
keyword: enfant
keyword: exchange
keyword: gift
keyword: infoeu-reposemanticsdoctoralthesis
keyword: investissement
keyword: investment
keyword: prise-de-decision
keyword: risk
keyword: risque
keyword: sdvspeelife-sciences-q-biosante-publique-et-epidemiologie
keyword: shspsyhumanities-and-social-sciencespsychology
keyword: theses
keyword: waiting
landing page: https://theses.hal.science/tel-00696006

The development of economic skills in children
type: Distribution
format: HTML
issued: 2026-05-19T11:26:05.698813
modified: 2026-05-19T11:26:05.650485
access URL: https://theses.hal.science/tel-00696006

test_moissonnage_selune
type: Agent