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Doing It Now or Later

Author

Listed:
  • O'Donoghue, Ted
  • Rabin, Matthew

Abstract

The authors examine self-control problems--modeled as time-inconsistent, present-biased preferences--in a model where a person must do an activity exactly once. They emphasize two distinctions: do activities involve immediate costs or immediate rewards, and are people sophisticated or naive about future self-control problems? Naive people procrastinate immediate-cost activities and preproperate--do too soon--immediate-reward activities. Sophistication mitigates procrastination but exacerbates preproperation. Moreover, with immediate costs, a small present bias can severely harm only naive people, whereas with immediate rewards it can severely harm only sophisticated people. Lessons for savings, addiction, and elsewhere are discussed.
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Suggested Citation

  • O'Donoghue, Ted & Rabin, Matthew, 1997. "Doing It Now or Later," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt7t44m5b0, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
    • Handle: RePEc:cdl:econwp:qt7t44m5b0
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    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. When will Ronaldo dive? Insights from behavioural economics
      by Ronan Lyons in Ronan Lyons on 2010-06-22 11:00:09
    2. Thesis Thursday: Alastair Irvine
      by Chris Sampson in The Academic Health Economists' Blog on 2019-03-21 07:00:35

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. David Laibson & Andrea Repetto & Jeremy Tobacman, 2000. "A Debt Puzzle," NBER Working Papers 7879, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    hyperbolic discounting; preproperation; procrastination; time inconsistency; Social and Behavioral Sciences;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • D11 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Theory

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