Looking ahead: Subjective time perception and individual discounting

W. David Bradford, Paul Dolan () and Matteo Galizzi
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Paul Dolan: London School of Economics

Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 2019, vol. 58, issue 1, No 3, 43-69

Abstract: Abstract We disentangle hyperbolic discounting from subjective time perception using experimental data from incentive-compatible tests to measure time preferences, and a set of experimental tasks to measure time perception. Two behavioral parameters are related to two factors affecting how we look ahead to future events. The first is some component of time preferences reflecting hyperbolic discounting. The second factor is that non-constant discounting may also be a reflection of subjective time perception: if people’s perception of time follows a near logarithmic process (as heat, sound, and light do) then estimates of individual discounting will be mis-measured and incorrectly suggest hyperbolic discounting even if discounting over subjective time is constant. We empirically estimate the two distinct behavioral parameters using data collected from 178 participants in a lab experiment. The results support the hypothesis that apparent non-constant discounting is largely a reflection of non-linear subjective time perception.

Keywords: Time preferences; Time perception; Hyperbolic discounting; Quasi-hyperbolic discounting; D1; D10; D91 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

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Working Paper: Looking ahead: subjective time perception and individual discounting (2014)
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DOI: 10.1007/s11166-019-09298-1

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