Valuing undesirable waiting time: Evidence from a real-incentive lab experiment

Mickael Beaud (), Thierry Blayac (), Elven Priour (), Julie Rosaz () and Maïté Stéphan ()
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Mickael Beaud: CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - UM - Université de Montpellier, UM - Université de Montpellier
Thierry Blayac: CEE-M - Centre d'Economie de l'Environnement - Montpellier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement - Institut Agro Montpellier - Institut Agro - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur pour l'agriculture, l'alimentation et l'environnement - UM - Université de Montpellier, UM - Université de Montpellier
Elven Priour: CREM - Centre de recherche en économie et management - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UR - Université de Rennes - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Julie Rosaz: UBFC - Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté [COMUE], CEREN - Centre de Recherche sur l'ENtreprise [Dijon] - BSB - Burgundy School of Business (BSB) - Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Dijon Bourgogne (ESC)
Maïté Stéphan: CREM - Centre de recherche en économie et management - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UR - Université de Rennes - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

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Abstract: We study how individuals value reductions in passive and undesirable waiting time using a real-incentive laboratory experiment. Participants were required to endure enforced inactivity – no phone, no reading, no conversation – and could pay to reduce the waiting time. By varying both the size of the time reduction (within-subject) and the initial waiting duration (between-subjects), we elicit willingness to pay (WTP) for time savings and compute the implied value of time (VOT) in euros per hour. We find that WTP is positive on average but increases less than proportionally with the amount of time saved. As a result, the VOT decreases with both the size of the time reduction and the initial waiting time. These findings highlight reference dependence and diminishing marginal sensitivity to time savings, challenging the assumption of a constant VOT commonly used in transport appraisal. Our results support a more context-sensitive approach to time valuation.

Keywords: Value of time; Waiting time; Willingness to pay; Lab experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Published in Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 2026, 124, pp.102627. ⟨10.1016/j.socec.2026.102627⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05758710

DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2026.102627

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