For what it is worth to those on the list who are not parents, here is my experience as a parent. Children understand the concept of property before the age of 9 months. Before the age of 12 months, they understand that certain behaviors bring about favorable or unfavorable reactions from parents, which is tantamount to a trade of behaviors between parent and child. (My theory of parenting holds that parents are likely to be happy with the life-long behavior of their child if at the pre-toddler stage the child wants to please the parents; and the pre-toddler is most likely to want to please the parents if the parents (especially the mother) have encouraged an exchange of favorable and unfavorable behaviors.) Also by age 12 months, children can understand exchange of goods; e.g., give up one toy in exchange for a more desired toy; the concept of exchange is more easily grasped by the child than are the words that describe the exchange; in other words, the concept of exchange is more easily communicated by demonstration than by words, as the child's verbal understanding lags behind.
Hope this helps those on the list who are not parents. Walt Warnick -----Original Message----- From: fabio guillermo rojas [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Saturday, January 11, 2003 10:46 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Babynomics > > Question: At what can humans engage in economic behavior? Are there > > studies showing when children learn to trade ? > > Fabio > > Humans start to engage in economic behavior as soon as they are born. > Trade is not a necessary characteristic of economic behavior. The issue is > rather whether infants are consciously choosing their actions. It seems to > me that the genetic basis for behavior is the same in an infant as in an > adult. > Fred Foldvary I think this is a vacuous answer. By that logic, animals are economic actors - animals seem to choose their actions. Perhaps, then, my original question was vague. The question I have is: when do humans start to engage in *sophisticated* economic behaviors not found in animals? For example, at what age are children able to understand the concept of interest? At what age do children understand that exchange can make you better off? Fabio
