Commitment and Self-Control

Jawwad Noor ()

Microeconomics from EconWPA

Abstract: The literature on self-control problems has typically concentrated on immediate temptations. This paper studies a Gul and Pesendorfer (2001, 2004) style model in which decision-makers are affected by temptations that lie in the future. While temptation is commonly understood to give rise to a demand for commitment, it is shown that `temptation by future consumption' can induce its absence. The model also exhibits procrastination, provides an alternative to projection bias as an explanation for some experimental results, and can simultaneously account for myopic and hyperopic behavior. The evidence on preference reversals supports temptation by future consumption, and suggests that it may not be restricted to short time horizons.

Keywords: Self-Control; Temptation; Commitment; Preference Reversals; Procrastination (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D1 D2 D3 D4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-evo
Date: Written
Note: Type of Document - pdf; pages: 46
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http://129.3.20.41/eps/mic/papers/0509/0509008.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Commitment and Self-Control (2005)
Journal Article: Commitment and self-control (2007)
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Persistent link: http://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wpa:wuwpmi:0509008

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