Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/71736 
Year of Publication: 
2013
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 7273
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
We experimentally manipulate two aspects of the cognitive environment, cognitive depletion and recent sugar intake, and estimate their effects on individuals' time preferences in a way that allows us to identify the structural parameters of a simple (α,β,δ) intertemporal utility function for each person. We find that individuals exposed to a prior cognitive load, individuals who consumed a sugared drink, and individuals who consumed a sugar-free drink all defer more income than a control group exposed to none of these conditions. Structural estimates show that all three effects are driven entirely by increases in the intertemporal price elasticity parameter (α). Together, our results suggest that at least for complex economic decisions like intertemporal financial choice, the 'attention/focusing' effect of both prior cognitively demanding activity and prior assignment of a primary reward can improve decision-making.
Subjects: 
time preferences
self-control
depletion
sucrose
experiment
JEL: 
C91
D90
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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