Age-induced acceleration of time: Implications for intertemporal choice

B-Tier
Journal: Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
Year: 2018
Volume: 153
Issue: C
Pages: 143-152

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Our perception of time is both nonlinear and nonstationary, which makes preference reversals possible. I decompose the sources of dynamic inconsistency into a time acceleration effect and a time compression effect. Standard economic models focus only on the second effect. I show that when the perceived flow of time accelerates with age, the two effects can offset each other for hyperbolic discounters but not for exponential discounters. Such hyperbolic discounters would report discount rates that seem to imply dynamic inconsistency but would nonetheless manifest dynamic consistency in actual choices over time.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:jeborg:v:153:y:2018:i:c:p:143-152
Journal Field
Theory
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-25