Alan, Sule and Ertac, Seda (2015) Patience, self-control and the demand for commitment: Evidence from a large-scale field experiment. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 115. pp. 111-122. DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2014.10.008
Alan, Sule and Ertac, Seda (2015) Patience, self-control and the demand for commitment: Evidence from a large-scale field experiment. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 115. pp. 111-122. DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2014.10.008
Alan, Sule and Ertac, Seda (2015) Patience, self-control and the demand for commitment: Evidence from a large-scale field experiment. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 115. pp. 111-122. DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2014.10.008
Abstract
Patience and self-control are important non-cognitive skills that are associated with favorable educational, economic and social outcomes. This paper provides empirical evidence to inform discussions on possible educational interventions to make children more forward-looking or less present-biased, by putting forward a way to identify self-control problems in children and exploring the role of commitment devices in mitigating such problems. We report results from an experiment that measures planned allocations, the demand for a commitment device, and actual choices in the context of chocolate consumption over two days. The experiment is conducted as part of a large field study on children's preferences, which allows us to correlate behavior with variables related to the subjects' socio-economic background and educational environment, as well as preference parameters elicited through other tasks and surveys. We find a large demand for commitment among children. In addition, we identify important correlations between patience, commitment demand and time inconsistency, as well as student-specific personality traits and outcomes such as school success.
Item Type: | Article |
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Uncontrolled Keywords: | Patience; Self-control; Commitment; Intertemporal choice; Experiments |
Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory |
Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences Faculty of Social Sciences > Economics, Department of |
SWORD Depositor: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Depositing User: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Date Deposited: | 08 Dec 2014 12:52 |
Last Modified: | 16 May 2024 16:15 |
URI: | http://repository.essex.ac.uk/id/eprint/12031 |
Available files
Filename: Alan_Ertac_JEBO Special Issue_Revised Manuscript_2nd revision.pdf