Time Discounting: Declining Impatience and Interval Effect

37 Pages Posted: 22 Jan 2007

See all articles by Yusuke Kinari

Yusuke Kinari

Kyushu University

Fumio Ohtake

Osaka University - Center for Infectious Disease Education and Research

Yoshiro Tsutsui

Kyoto Bunkyo University

Date Written: January 2007

Abstract

Most studies have not distinguished delay from intervals, so that whether the declining impatience really holds has been an open question. We conducted an experiment that explicitly distinguishes them, and confirmed the declining impatience. This implies that people make dynamically inconsistent plans. We also found the interval effect that the per-period time discount rate decreases with prolonged intervals. We show that the interval and the magnitude effects are caused, at least partially, because subjects' choices are influenced by the differential in reward amount, while Weber's law solves neither the delay nor the interval effects.

Keywords: time discount rate, declining impatience, interval effect, subadditivity, Weber's law

JEL Classification: D81, D90

Suggested Citation

Kinari, Yusuke and Ohtake, Fumio and Tsutsui, Yoshiro, Time Discounting: Declining Impatience and Interval Effect (January 2007). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=958156 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.958156

Yusuke Kinari

Kyushu University ( email )

6-19-1, Hakozaki, Higashiku
Fukuoka, Fukuoka 812-8581
Japan

Fumio Ohtake

Osaka University - Center for Infectious Disease Education and Research ( email )

1-7 Machikaneyamacho
Toyonaka
Osaka, 560-0043
Japan

Yoshiro Tsutsui (Contact Author)

Kyoto Bunkyo University ( email )

Senzoku-80 Makishimacho
Uji, Kyoto 611-0041
Japan