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Eliciting utility curvature and time preference

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TLDR
In this paper, the curvature of utility elicited directly from choices over time is found to be significantly concave, but far closer to linear than that elicited under risk, and the effect of correcting discount rates for this curvature is modest.
Abstract
In both standard and behavioral theory, as well as experimental procedures to elicit time preference, it is commonly assumed that a single utility function is used to evaluate payoffs both under risk and over time. I introduce a novel experimental design to examine this assumption, by transposing the well-known Holt-Laury risk preference experiment from state-payoff space into time-dated payoff space. I find that the curvature of utility elicited directly from choices over time is significantly concave, but far closer to linear than utility elicited under risk. As a result, the effect of correcting discount rates for this curvature is modest.

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Citations
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Looking ahead: Subjective time perception and individual discounting

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Risk preferences impose a hidden distortion on measures of choice impulsivity.

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Endowment effects in the risky investment game

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Magnitude Effect in Intertemporal Allocation Tasks

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References
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Book

Theory of Games and Economic Behavior

TL;DR: Theory of games and economic behavior as mentioned in this paper is the classic work upon which modern-day game theory is based, and it has been widely used to analyze a host of real-world phenomena from arms races to optimal policy choices of presidential candidates, from vaccination policy to major league baseball salary negotiations.
Journal ArticleDOI

Advances in prospect theory: cumulative representation of uncertainty

TL;DR: Cumulative prospect theory as discussed by the authors applies to uncertain as well as to risky prospects with any number of outcomes, and it allows different weighting functions for gains and for losses, and two principles, diminishing sensitivity and loss aversion, are invoked to explain the characteristic curvature of the value function and the weighting function.
Journal ArticleDOI

Golden Eggs and Hyperbolic Discounting

TL;DR: The authors analyzes the decisions of a hyperbolic consumer who has access to an imperfect commitment technology: an illiquid asset whose sale must be initiated one period before the sale proceeds are received.
Journal ArticleDOI

Time Discounting and Time Preference: A Critical Review

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the discounted utility (DU) model, its historical development, underlying assumptions, and "anomalies" -the empirical regularities that are inconsistent with its theoretical predictions.
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