IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/soceco/v39y2010i4p458-465.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Subjective time discount rates among teenagers and adults: Evidence from Israel

Author

Listed:
  • Lahav, Eyal
  • Benzion, Uri
  • Shavit, Tal

Abstract

This study is an empirical examination of the personal discount rates used by teenagers and adults. The participants answered a time-preference questionnaire and were asked about the bank interest paid for deposits. The results demonstrate that teenagers have a very high personal discount rate in comparison to adults. In addition, we found that receiving a regular allowance increases the teenagers' willingness to wait. Our results indicate that the influence of teenagers' poor financial knowledge, which ought to increase the personal discount rate, is stronger than the effect of their safety net that should reduce the personal discount rate.

Suggested Citation

  • Lahav, Eyal & Benzion, Uri & Shavit, Tal, 2010. "Subjective time discount rates among teenagers and adults: Evidence from Israel," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 458-465, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:39:y:2010:i:4:p:458-465
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6W5H-4YGHGS3-1/2/371515da8947ae2799fe49f3275779e0
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gretchen B. Chapman & Arthur S. Elstein, 1995. "Valuing the Future," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 15(4), pages 373-386, October.
    2. Mahajna, Ahmad & Benzion, Uri & Bogaire, Ravid & Shavit, Tal, 2008. "Subjective discount rates among Israeli Arabs and Israeli Jews," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 2513-2522, December.
    3. Bernard M.S. van Praag & Adam S. Booij, 2003. "Risk Aversion and the Subjective Time Discount Rate: A Joint Approach," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 03-018/3, Tinbergen Institute.
    4. Thaler, Richard H & Shefrin, H M, 1981. "An Economic Theory of Self-Control," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(2), pages 392-406, April.
    5. Sabrina Wulff Pabilonia, 2001. "Evidence on Youth Employment, Earnings, and Parental Transfers in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 36(4), pages 795-822.
    6. Uri Benzion & Yochanan Shachmurove & Joseph Yagil, 2004. "Subjective discount functions - an experimental approach," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(5), pages 299-311.
    7. Sara Markowitz & John Tauras, 2006. "Even For Teenagers, Money Does Not Grow on Trees: Teenage Substance Use and Budget Constraints," NBER Working Papers 12300, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Jerry A. Hausman, 1979. "Individual Discount Rates and the Purchase and Utilization of Energy-Using Durables," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 33-54, Spring.
    9. Abramovitch, Rona & Freedman, Jonathan L. & Pliner, Patricia, 1991. "Children and money: getting an allowance, credit versus cash, and knowledge of pricing," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 27-45, March.
    10. Shane Frederick & George Loewenstein & Ted O'Donoghue, 2002. "Time Discounting and Time Preference: A Critical Review," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 351-401, June.
    11. Uri Benzion & Amnon Rapoport & Joseph Yagil, 1989. "Discount Rates Inferred from Decisions: An Experimental Study," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(3), pages 270-284, March.
    12. Bettinger, Eric & Slonim, Robert, 2007. "Patience among children," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1-2), pages 343-363, February.
    13. Grignon, Michel, 2009. "An empirical investigation of heterogeneity in time preferences and smoking behaviors," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 739-751, October.
    14. Rogers, Alan R, 1994. "Evolution of Time Preference by Natural Selection," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(3), pages 460-481, June.
    15. Thaler, Richard, 1981. "Some empirical evidence on dynamic inconsistency," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 201-207.
    16. Drazen Prelec, 2004. "Decreasing Impatience: A Criterion for Non‐stationary Time Preference and “Hyperbolic” Discounting," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 106(3), pages 511-532, October.
    17. Rosenboim, Mosi & Shavit, Tal & Shoham, Amir, 2010. "Financial decision making in collective society--A field test on Israeli kibbutz members and city residents," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 30-36, January.
    18. Read, Daniel & Read, N. L., 2004. "Time discounting over the lifespan," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 94(1), pages 22-32, May.
    19. Henry Ruderman & Mark D. Levine & James E. McMahon, 1987. "The Behavior of the Market for Energy Efficiency in Residential Appliances Including Heating and Cooling Equipment," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 1), pages 101-124.
    20. Elke U. Weber & Richard A. Milliman, 1997. "Perceived Risk Attitudes: Relating Risk Perception to Risky Choice," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 43(2), pages 123-144, February.
    21. Dermot Gately, 1980. "Individual Discount Rates and the Purchase and Utilization of Energy-Using Durables: Comment," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 11(1), pages 373-374, Spring.
    22. Trostel, Philip A & Taylor, Grant A, 2001. "A Theory of Time Preference," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 39(3), pages 379-395, July.
    23. 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.
    24. Dustmann, Christian & Micklewright, John & van Soest, Arthur, 2004. "In-School Work Experience, Parental Allowances, and Wages," IZA Discussion Papers 1235, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    25. Read, Daniel, 2001. "Is Time-Discounting Hyperbolic or Subadditive?," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 5-32, July.
    26. Myerson, Joel & Green, Leonard & Scott Hanson, J. & Holt, Daniel D. & Estle, Sara J., 2003. "Discounting delayed and probabilistic rewards: Processes and traits," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 619-635, October.
    27. Saul Pleeter & John T. Warner, 2001. "The Personal Discount Rate: Evidence from Military Downsizing Programs," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(1), pages 33-53, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Shavit, Tal & Lahav, Eyal & Shahrabani, Shosh, 2014. "What affects the decision to take an active part in social justice protests? The impacts of confidence in society, time preference and interest in politics," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 52-63.
    2. Lichtman-Sadot, Shirlee, 2016. "Improving academic performance through conditional benefits: Open/closed campus policies in high school and student outcomes," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 95-112.
    3. Dara N. Lee, 2011. "The Impact of Repealing Sunday Closing Laws on Educational Attainment," Working Papers 1117, Department of Economics, University of Missouri.
    4. Detlefsen, Lena & Friedl, Andreas & Lima de Miranda, Katharina & Schmidt, Ulrich & Sutter, Matthias, 2018. "Are Economic Preferences Shaped by the Family Context? The Impact of Birth Order and Siblings' Sex Composition on Economic Preferences," IZA Discussion Papers 11949, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Dara N. Lee, 2013. "The Impact of Repealing Sunday Closing Laws on Educational Attainment," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 48(2), pages 286-310.
    6. Burro, Giovanni & McDonald, Rebecca & Read, Daniel & Taj, Umar, 2022. "Patience decreases with age for the poor but not for the rich: an international comparison," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 596-621.
    7. Tatiana Kossova & Elena Kossova & Maria Sheluntcova, 2014. "Estimating the Relationship Between Rate of Time Preferences And Socio-Economic Factors In Russia," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(1), pages 39-68.
    8. Shavit, Tal & Lahav, Eyal & Benzion, Uri, 2013. "Factors affecting soldiers’ time preference: A field study in Israel," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 75-84.
    9. Terri Friedline & Mary Rauktis, 2014. "Young People Are the Front Lines of Financial Inclusion: A Review of 45 Years of Research," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(3), pages 535-602, October.
    10. Arie Sherman & Tal Shavit & Guy Barokas & Nonna Kushnirovich, 2021. "On the Role of Personal Values and Philosophy of Life in Happiness Technology," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 1055-1070, March.

    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. Shavit, Tal & Lahav, Eyal & Benzion, Uri, 2013. "Factors affecting soldiers’ time preference: A field study in Israel," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 75-84.
    2. Benhabib, Jess & Bisin, Alberto & Schotter, Andrew, 2010. "Present-bias, quasi-hyperbolic discounting, and fixed costs," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 205-223, July.
    3. Jindrich Matousek & Tomas Havranek & Zuzana Irsova, 2022. "Individual discount rates: a meta-analysis of experimental evidence," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 25(1), pages 318-358, February.
    4. Lloyd-Smith, Patrick & Adamowicz, Wiktor & Entem, Alicia & Fenichel, Eli P. & Rouhi Rad, Mani, 2021. "The decade after tomorrow: Estimation of discount rates from realistic temporal decisions over long time horizons," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 158-174.
    5. Lahav, Eyal & Shavit, Tal & Benzion, Uri, 2016. "Can't wait to celebrate: Holiday euphoria, impulsive behavior and time preference," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 128-134.
    6. Bruderer Enzler, Heidi & Diekmann, Andreas & Meyer, Reto, 2014. "Subjective discount rates in the general population and their predictive power for energy saving behavior," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 524-540.
    7. Y. Bayer, B.J. Ruffle, R. Zultan, T. Dwolatzky, 2018. "Time preferences of older people with mild cognitive impairment," LCERPA Working Papers 0115, Laurier Centre for Economic Research and Policy Analysis, revised 30 May 2018.
    8. Wang, Mei & Rieger, Marc Oliver & Hens, Thorsten, 2016. "How time preferences differ: Evidence from 53 countries," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 115-135.
    9. repec:cup:judgdm:v:6:y:2011:i:6:p:542-551 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Marco Casari, 2009. "Pre-commitment and flexibility in a time decision experiment," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 117-141, April.
    11. Tatiana Kossova & Elena Kossova & Maria Sheluntcova, 2014. "Estimating the Relationship Between Rate of Time Preferences And Socio-Economic Factors In Russia," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(1), pages 39-68.
    12. Shavit, Tal & Rosenboim, Mosi & Shani, Yaniv, 2014. "Time preference before and after a risky activity – A field experiment," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 30-36.
    13. Vasquez-Lavín, Felipe & Ponce Oliva, Roberto D. & Hernández, José Ignacio & Gelcich, Stefan & Carrasco, Moisés & Quiroga, Miguel, 2019. "Exploring dual discount rates for ecosystem services: Evidence from a marine protected area network," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 63-80.
    14. Jordan, Jeffrey L. & Anil, Bulent & Herbert, Velma & Chatterjee, Swan, 2009. "Human Capital Investments in Education and Home Stability: Exploring Education, Homeownership and Poverty," 2009 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, 2009, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 49320, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    15. Shane Frederick & George Loewenstein & Ted O'Donoghue, 2002. "Time Discounting and Time Preference: A Critical Review," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 351-401, June.
    16. Chen Wang & Ricardo Daziano, 2015. "On the problem of measuring discount rates in intertemporal transportation choices," Transportation, Springer, vol. 42(6), pages 1019-1038, November.
    17. Alex Krumer & Tal Shavit & Mosi Rosenboim, 2011. "Why do professional athletes have different time preferences than non-athletes?," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 6(6), pages 542-551, August.
    18. de La Bruslerie, Hubert & Pratlong, Florent, 2012. "La valeur psychologique du temps : une synthèse de la littérature," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 88(3), pages 361-400, Septembre.
    19. Marieka M. Klawitter & C. Leigh Anderson & Mary Kay Gugerty, 2013. "Savings And Personal Discount Rates In A Matched Savings Program For Low-Income Families," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 31(3), pages 468-485, July.
    20. Khwaja, Ahmed & Silverman, Dan & Sloan, Frank, 2007. "Time preference, time discounting, and smoking decisions," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 927-949, September.
    21. Häckel, Björn & Pfosser, Stefan & Tränkler, Timm, 2017. "Explaining the energy efficiency gap - Expected Utility Theory versus Cumulative Prospect Theory," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 414-426.

    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:eee:soceco:v:39:y:2010:i:4:p:458-465. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620175 .

    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.