IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ebl/ecbull/eb-25-00039.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Keeping you in sight: the role of focusing effort in commitment to goals

Author

Listed:
  • Matthew G Nagler

    (City University of New York)

Abstract

Using a simple consumption-savings model with a ? ? ? agent, I consider how present-biased individuals remain committed to goals. I find that effort expended to maintain focus on future outcomes, represented as an increase to the ? that applies to the agent's next-period self, offsets the effects of present bias and increases progress toward the agent's goal. My model delivers this result without reference-dependent preferences. The greater the present bias, the more focus is necessary to achieve the same progress. While costless focusing brings perfect commitment, individuals fall short of full goal achievement when focusing is costly.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew G Nagler, 2024. "Keeping you in sight: the role of focusing effort in commitment to goals," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 44(4), pages 1399-1405.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-25-00039
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.accessecon.com/Pubs/EB/2024/Volume44/EB-24-V44-I4-P111.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nagler, Matthew G., 2023. "Focusing as commitment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 520-534.
    2. Bezalel Peleg & Menahem E. Yaari, 1973. "On the Existence of a Consistent Course of Action when Tastes are Changing," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 40(3), pages 391-401.
    3. Roland Benabou & Jean Tirole, 2004. "Willpower and Personal Rules," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(4), pages 848-886, August.
    4. Andrew Howell & Karen Buro, 2011. "Relations Among Mindfulness, Achievement-Related Self-Regulation, and Achievement Emotions," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 12(6), pages 1007-1022, December.
    5. Hsiaw, Alice, 2013. "Goal-setting and self-control," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 148(2), pages 601-626.
    6. B. Douglas Bernheim & Antonio Rangel, 2004. "Addiction and Cue-Triggered Decision Processes," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(5), pages 1558-1590, December.
    7. E. S. Phelps & R. A. Pollak, 1968. "On Second-Best National Saving and Game-Equilibrium Growth," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 35(2), pages 185-199.
    8. Alexander K. Koch & Julia Nafziger, 2011. "Self‐regulation through Goal Setting," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 113(1), pages 212-227, March.
    9. Ran Kivetz & Oleg Urminsky & Yuhuang Zheng, 2006. "The Goal-Gradient Hypothesis Resurrected: Purchase Acceleration, Illusionary Goal Progress, and Customer Retention," Natural Field Experiments 00658, The Field Experiments Website.
    10. Juan D. Carrillo & Thomas Mariotti, 2000. "Strategic Ignorance as a Self-Disciplining Device," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 67(3), pages 529-544.
    11. David Laibson, 1997. "Golden Eggs and Hyperbolic Discounting," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(2), pages 443-478.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nagler, Matthew G., 2023. "Focusing as commitment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 520-534.
    2. Méder, Zsombor Z. & Flesch, János & Peeters, Ronald, 2017. "Naiveté and sophistication in dynamic inconsistency," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 40-54.
    3. Koch, Alexander K. & Nafziger, Julia & Suvorov, Anton & van de Ven, Jeroen, 2014. "Self-rewards and personal motivation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 151-167.
    4. Brocas, Isabelle & Carrillo, Juan D., 2021. "Value computation and modulation: A neuroeconomic theory of self-control as constrained optimization," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    5. Thomas Mariotti & Nikolaus Schweizer & Nora Szech & Jonas von Wangenheim, 2023. "Information Nudges and Self-Control," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(4), pages 2182-2197, April.
    6. Jing Ai & Lin Zhao & Wei Zhu, 2016. "Contracting with Present-Biased Consumers in Insurance Markets," The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 41(2), pages 107-148, September.
    7. Luttmer, Erzo G.J. & Mariotti, Thomas, 2007. "Efficiency and equilibrium when preferences are time-inconsistent," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 132(1), pages 493-506, January.
    8. Koch, Alexander K. & Nafziger, Julia, 2020. "Motivational goal bracketing: An experiment," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    9. Isabelle Brocas & Juan D. Carrillo, 2008. "The Brain as a Hierarchical Organization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(4), pages 1312-1346, September.
    10. Hsiaw, Alice, 2018. "Goal bracketing and self-control," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 100-121.
    11. Wilfred Amaldoss & Mushegh Harutyunyan, 2023. "Pricing of Vice Goods for Goal-Driven Consumers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(8), pages 4541-4557, August.
    12. Koch, Alexander K. & Nafziger, Julia, 2016. "Goals and bracketing under mental accounting," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 305-351.
    13. Artem Razumovskii, 2023. "Interim Deadline for Procrastinators," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp769, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    14. S. Nageeb Ali, 2011. "Learning Self-Control," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(2), pages 857-893.
    15. Bisin, Alberto & Hyndman, Kyle, 2020. "Present-bias, procrastination and deadlines in a field experiment," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 339-357.
    16. Mihm, Maximilian & Ozbek, Kemal, 2018. "Mood-driven choices and self-regulation," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 727-760.
    17. O'Donoghue, Ted & Rabin, Matthew, 2006. "Optimal sin taxes," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(10-11), pages 1825-1849, November.
    18. Nir, A., 2004. "Relationships as Commitment Devices : Strategic Silence," Discussion Paper 2004-49, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    19. Galperti, Simone, 2019. "A theory of personal budgeting," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 14(1), January.
    20. Nir, A., 2004. "Relationships as Commitment Devices : Strategic Silence," Other publications TiSEM 073fb830-048b-435e-80d2-c, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    goals; focusing attention; self-control; preference for commitment; time inconsistency; hyperbolic discounting;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D9 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics
    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-25-00039. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: John P. Conley (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.