Seminar: Measuring decreasing impatience

Time: 13.00-14.00 hours
Location: CPB-office, Van Stolkweg 14, The Hague

Presentation: Kirsten Rohde (EUR)

Discussant: Niels Vermeer (MinFin)

Language: English

Registration: Please register by sending an email to seminars@cpb.nl.

Abstract subject:
Decreasing impatience is a driver of time-inconsistent behavior. This paper introduces a measure of decreasing impatience, the DI-index, which can easily be measured in experiments and surveys. The DI-index is generally applicable and does not require choices to satisfy a specific discounting model. It can, for instance, also be computed for people with increasing or constant impatience and even for people who do not satisfy the discounted utility model. The DI-index cannot only be used to measure decreasing impatience, but also to test various discounting models. Two experiments show how the DI-index can be implemented. The results show that increasing impatience is almost as prevalent as decreasing and constant impatience, illustrating the need to accommodate for increasing impatience. In the experiments the DI-index was independent of self-reported time-inconsistency measures, which provides food for thought.

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