| 主讲人简介： | Peter Kuhn received his Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University in 1983. Since then he has held faculty positions at the University of Western Ontario, McMaster University, and currently at the University of California, Santa Barbara. |
| 讲座简介： | Abstract: How relevant are resource-based models of willpower for financial choice? We estimate the effects of three treatments —prior impulse controlling activity, consumption of a sugared drink, and consumption of a sugar-free drink— on intertemporal financial decisions. Contrary to those models, prior exertion of impulse control increases financial patience. Sugared drink consumption also increases patience, but so does sugar-free drink consumption, raising doubts about blood glucose as a key willpower resource. To better understand these results, we estimate treatment effects on three structurally-estimated utility parameters for each subject. All three treatments have robust effects on utility curvature, and smaller effects on present-bias. These two parameters move together, though they are largely unaffected by the treatments among subjects with very high cognitive ability. We argue that these patterns are more consistent with a scenario where the treatments reduced subjects’ adherence to an income-as-consumption heuristic rather than affecting their willpower. |
