Why Do We Procrastinate? Present Bias and Optimism

Zachary Breig, Matthew Gibson and Jeffrey Shrader
Additional contact information
Zachary Breig: School of Economics, The University of Queensland

No 2019-15, Department of Economics Working Papers from Department of Economics, Williams College

Abstract: A large body of research has shown that procrastination can have significant adverse effects on individuals, including lower savings and poorer health. Such procrastination is typically modeled as the result of present bias. In this paper we study an alternative: excessively optimistic beliefs about future demands on an individual’s time. Our experimental results refute the hypothesis that present bias is the sole source of dynamic inconsistency, but they are consistent with optimism. These findings offer an explanation for low takeup of commitment and suggest that personalized information on past choices can mitigate procrastination.

JEL-codes: D15 D84 D90 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 49 pages
Date: 2019-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cbe, nep-evo and nep-exp
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://web.williams.edu/Economics/wp/Gibsonpresent_bias_and_optimism.pdf Full text (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Why Do We Procrastinate? Present Bias and Optimism (2020)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wil:wileco:2019-15

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from

The price is Free.

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Department of Economics Working Papers from Department of Economics, Williams College Williamstown, MA 01267. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Greg Phelan ().