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How do People Procrastinate to Meet a Deadline?

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  • KAYABA, Yutaka
  • 萱場, 豊

Abstract

Relying on e-learning data, I report here on an empirical investigation of daily homework progress to assess procrastination among high school students, whose behavior is susceptible to present-bias. The homework entails a non-binding goal for the students. The main findings were as follows: First, the goal encouraged a considerable number of students to study more to achieve it. Second, high achievers procrastinated until close to the deadline, particularly females for Math homework. Finally, a considerable subset of high achievers worked hard at the last minute to meet a non-binding deadline. These findings imply that a non-binding goal strongly motivates such students' self-control in goal achievement; however, the process is one of procrastination, and the deadline prevents further procrastination despite being non-binding.

Suggested Citation

  • KAYABA, Yutaka & 萱場, 豊, 2016. "How do People Procrastinate to Meet a Deadline?," Discussion paper series HIAS-E-33, Hitotsubashi Institute for Advanced Study, Hitotsubashi University.
    • Handle: RePEc:hit:hiasdp:hias-e-33
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    File URL: https://hermes-ir.lib.hit-u.ac.jp/hermes/ir/re/28100/070_hiasDP-E-33.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Procrastination; non-binding goal; deadline;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

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