Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/55875 
Year of Publication: 
2012
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 3750
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
We compare different designs that have been used to test for an impact of time horizon on discounting, using real incentives and two representative data sets. With the most commonly used type of design we replicate the typical finding of declining (hyperbolic) discounting, but with other designs find constant or increasing discounting. As a whole, the data are not consistent with any of these usual candidate discounting assumptions, and they also imply a violation of transitivity. The results have implications for interpreting previous evidence, and pose an important puzzle for understanding inter-temporal choice.
Subjects: 
time preference
hyperbolic discounting
self-control
dynamic inconsistency
intransitivity
JEL: 
D01
D90
D03
E21
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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