We assume that perfectly patient agents estimate the value of future events by generating noisy, unbiased simulations and combining those signals with priors to form posteriors. These posterior expectations exhibit as-if discounting: agents make choices as if they were maximizing a stream of...

This paper studies the dynamics of long-term contracts in repeated principal-agent relationships with an impatient agent. Despite the absence of exogenous uncertainty, Pareto-optimal dynamic contracts generically oscillate between favoring the principal and favoring the agent

Many researchers have examined the influence of the financial planning horizon variable in the Survey of Consumer Finances and the Health and Retirement Study. The question asks respondents to choose the most important time period for saving and spending decisions. These researchers have assumed...

Intertemporal conflicts occur when a group of agents with heterogeneous time preferences must make a collective decision about how to manage a common asset. How should this be done? We examine two methods: an 'Economics' approach that seeks to implement efficient allocations, and a 'Politics'...

The main aim of this study is to describe temporal risk aversion impact on the present value. Here the case of continuous time is considered only. Some initial problem with differential equation is obtained as a result of these studies. Then the discounting function is given as the unique...

The main aim of this study is to describe temporal risk aversion impact on the present value. Here the case of discrete time is considered only. Some initial problem with differential equation is obtained as a result of these studies. Then the discounting function is given as the unique solution...

We employ the convex time budget approach in a laboratory experiment to measure individual discount rates for time horizons that are longer (5, 10, and 20 years) than what is typically explored in previous literature. We reject hyperbolic discounting in favor of constant discount rates and...

This paper proposes a unified framework to completely characterize the sellers' optimal listing strategy in the online auction as a function of their rates of time impatience. Specifically, the fixed-price listing, the regular auction, and the buy-it-now auction are each a solution of the...

This methodological survey reviews recent developments in the design of experiments to elicit individuals' time preferences, with a focus on the measurement or control for potentially non-linear utility. While the objective of a time preference experiment is usually to estimate parameters of a...