@TechReport{iza:izadps:dp18270,
            	author={Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. and Lepinteur, Anthony and Menta, Giorgia},
            	title={The Stability of Self-Control in Unstable Times},
            	year={2025},
	month={Nov},
            	institution={Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)},
            	address={Bonn},
            	type={IZA Discussion Paper},
            	number={18270},
            	url={https://www.iza.org/publications/dp18270},
	abstract={This paper examines the stability of self-control over time using nationally-representative longitudinal data from Australia. We track the same individuals between 2019 and 2023, a period encompassing one of the most disruptive global crisis in recent history: the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite these extraordinary circumstances, self-control remained remarkably stable: its mean and distribution were unchanged, and individuals largely preserved their relative positions. Within-person changes were small, and unrelated to variations in state-level exposure to both the spread of the virus and the policy responses that ensued. The evidence we report suggests that self-control is a deeply rooted, trait-like characteristic that persists even under extreme societal stress.},
	keywords={stability;HILDA;self-control;COVID-19},
            }