The evolution of hyperbolic discounting: Implications for truly social valuation of the future

John Gowdy, J. Barkley Rosser and Loraine Roy

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2013, vol. 90, issue S, S94-S104

Abstract: We explore the standard expected utility model and alternatives to it. We then examine the behavioral and neurological evidence for hyperbolic discounting. We discuss evidence related to the neurological and behavioral evolution of discounting in non-human animals and in humans. We explore new findings about the importance of sociality in human behavior and the implications for truly social time preference. Finally, we discuss the implications of the neurological evidence on discounting for social environmental valuation, in particular the implications for very long-run decisions such as those involved in climate change mitigation and biodiversity preservation.

Keywords: Behavioral evolution; Discounted utility; Hernnstein's matching law; Hyperbolic discounting; Neuroeconomics; Social time preference (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D03 D60 D87 D90 H43 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (18)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167268112002727
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
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:eee:jeborg:v:90:y:2013:i:s:p:s94-s104

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2012.12.013

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization is currently edited by Houser, D. and Puzzello, D.

More articles in Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().