Individual Laboratory-Measured Discount Rates Predict Field Behavior

Christopher F. Chabris, David Laibson, Carrie L. Morris, Jonathon P. Schuldt and Dmitry Taubinsky

Scholarly Articles from Harvard University Department of Economics

Abstract: We estimate discount rates of 555 subjects using a laboratory task and find that these individual discount rates predict inter-individual variation in field behaviors (e.g., exercise, BMI, smoking). The correlation between the discount rate and each field behavior is small: none exceeds 0.28 and many are near 0. However, the discount rate has at least as much predictive power as any variable in our dataset (e.g., sex, age, education). The correlation between the discount rate and field behavior rises when field behaviors are aggregated: these correlations range from 0.09–0.38. We present a model that explains why specific intertemporal choice behaviors are only weakly correlated with discount rates, even though discount rates robustly predict aggregates of intertemporal decisions.

Date: 2008
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (240)

Published in Journal of Risk and Uncertainty

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Journal Article: Individual laboratory-measured discount rates predict field behavior (2008)
Working Paper: Individual Laboratory-Measured Discount Rates Predict Field Behavior (2008)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hrv:faseco:11130522

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