Survey of time preference, delay discounting models

Autor: John R. Doyle
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2013
Předmět:
Zdroj: Judgment and Decision Making, Vol 8, Pp 116-135 (2013)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 19302975
1930-2975
DOI: 10.1017/S1930297500005052
Popis: The paper surveys over twenty models of delay discounting (also known as temporal discounting, time preference, time discounting), that psychologists and economists have put forward to explain the way people actually trade off time and money. Using little more than the basic algebra of powers and logarithms, I show how the models are derived, what assumptions they are based upon, and how different models relate to each other. Rather than concentrate only on discount functions themselves, I show how discount functions may be manipulated to isolate rate parameters for each model. This approach, consistently applied, helps focus attention on the three main components in any discounting model: subjectively perceived money; subjectively perceived time; and how these elements are combined. We group models by the number of parameters that have to be estimated, which means our exposition follows a trajectory of increasing complexity to the models. However, as the story unfolds it becomes clear that most models fall into a smaller number of families. We also show how new models may be constructed by combining elements of different models.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals