Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 16, 2025
07:47
Measuring Delay Discounting in Humans Using an Adjusting Amount Task
Published on: January 9, 2016
15.4K
Measuring Time Preferences
Jonathan Cohen1, Keith Marzilli Ericson2,3, David Laibson3,4
1Princeton University.
Journal of Economic Literature
|September 11, 2023
Summary
This review translates financial choices into time preferences, revealing how "money earlier or later" (MEL) decisions reflect underlying discount functions and are influenced by factors beyond pure time preference.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Economics
- Decision Science
- Psychology
Background:
- Understanding intertemporal tradeoffs is crucial for economic and psychological models.
- Existing research often uses varied methodologies to assess time preferences.
- A gap exists in directly translating financial decision metrics to utility-based discount functions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review and synthesize research on measuring time preferences.
- To develop a framework for translating "money earlier or later" (MEL) decisions into discount functions.
- To identify empirical regularities and predictive power of MEL studies.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of studies measuring time preferences.
- Application of structural models to translate financial flows (required rates of return) into discount functions.
- Analysis of empirical regularities and predictive validity in MEL research.
Main Results:
- MEL experiments directly measure required rates of return for financial flows.
- These metrics can be translated into discount functions over utils using structural models.
- Empirical regularities and predictive power of MEL studies are summarized.
- Factors distinct from underlying time preferences influence MEL choices.
Conclusions:
- A unified approach can link financial decisions to underlying time preferences.
- MEL studies offer valuable insights into intertemporal decision-making.
- Recognizing external influences on MEL choices enhances the interpretation of time preference research.
Related Concept Videos
03:09Measuring Reaction Rates
25.3K
Polarimetry finds application in chemical kinetics to measure the concentration and reaction kinetics of optically active substances during a chemical reaction. Optically active substances have the capability of rotating the plane of polarization of linearly polarized light passing through them—a feature called optical rotation. Optical activity is attributed to the molecular structure of substances. Normal monochromatic light is unpolarized and possesses oscillations of the electrical...
25.3K
03:38Measurement: Standard Units
61.6K
Every measurement provides three kinds of information: the size or magnitude of the measurement (a number), a standard of comparison for the measurement (a unit), and an indication of the uncertainty of the measurement. While the number and unit are explicitly represented when a quantity is written, the uncertainty is an aspect of the errors in the measurement results.
61.6K
00:54Time-Series Graph
4.4K
A time-series graph is a line graph with repeated measurements taken at successive intervals of time. It is also called a time series chart. To construct a time-series graph, one must look at both pieces of a paired data set. The horizontal axis is used to plot the time increments, and the vertical axis is used to plot the values of the variable that one is measuring. By using the axes in this way, each point on the graph will correspond to time and a measured quantity. The points on the graph...
4.4K
00:55Interval Level of Measurement
15.3K
For effective statistical analysis, data are classified into four levels of measurement—nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio.
Data measured using the interval scale are similar to ordinal level data because they have a definite arrangement. However, in the interval level of measurement, the differences between data values are meaningful even though the data does not have a starting point.
Temperature is measured using the interval scale. It is measurable data, and the difference between...
Data measured using the interval scale are similar to ordinal level data because they have a definite arrangement. However, in the interval level of measurement, the differences between data values are meaningful even though the data does not have a starting point.
Temperature is measured using the interval scale. It is measurable data, and the difference between...
15.3K
01:14Temperature Measurement Sites
1.8K
A thermometer measures body temperature. The common sites for measuring body temperature are the oral cavity, axillary region, temporal artery, and skin surface, such as the forehead, abdomen, and axilla. True core body temperature is assessed in the rectum, tympanic membrane, pulmonary artery, esophagus, and urinary bladder.
Oral: When assessing oral temperature, the thermometer tip should be placed under the tongue in the posterior sublingual pocket. It offers accurate readings and can be...
Oral: When assessing oral temperature, the thermometer tip should be placed under the tongue in the posterior sublingual pocket. It offers accurate readings and can be...
1.8K
03:02Measurement: Derived Units
43.3K
The International System of Units or SI system, by international agreement, has fixed measurement units for seven fundamental properties: length, mass, time, temperature, electric current, amount of substance, and luminosity. These are called the SI base units.
43.3K