Personal Discount Rates: Evidence from the Tobacco Buyout Program

32 Pages Posted: 3 Jan 2008

See all articles by Helen N. Pushkarskaya

Helen N. Pushkarskaya

University of Kentucky - Department of Agricultural Economics

Maria I. Marshall

Purdue University

Date Written: December 20, 2007

Abstract

The tobacco buyout program affected a number of southern states, including Kentucky, providing a unique opportunity to study how individuals actually make choices involving large sums of money. This natural experiment, allowed us to measure the personal discount rates for Kentucky tobacco farmers, who are heterogeneous in terms of age, education, income, and other economic and non-economic factors. Results of our analysis suggest that personal characteristics, such as confidence, experienced interruptions in the regular family routine, defensive avoidance and attitude toward various sources of information, not an individual's demographic profile, influence the personal discount rate.

Keywords: personal discount rate, tobacco buyout

JEL Classification: D10, D90

Suggested Citation

Pushkarskaya, Helen N. and Marshall, Maria I., Personal Discount Rates: Evidence from the Tobacco Buyout Program (December 20, 2007). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1078822 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1078822

Helen N. Pushkarskaya (Contact Author)

University of Kentucky - Department of Agricultural Economics ( email )

Lexington, KY 40546
United States

Maria I. Marshall

Purdue University ( email )

610 Purdue Mall
West Lafayette, IN 47907
United States

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