Procrastination, self-imposed deadlines and other commitment devices
نویسندگان
چکیده
In this paper we model a decision maker who must exert costly effort to complete single task by fixed deadline. Effort costs evolve stochastically in continuous time. The optimally waits until are less than given threshold, the solution an optimal stopping time problem. We derive for three cases: (1) exponential makers, (2) Naïve hyperbolic discounters and (3) sophisticated discounters. Absent deadlines, show that makers behave as if they were consistent but instead have smaller reward completing task, while naïfs never task. presence of may, counterintuitively, threshold which is decreasing approach An extensive numerical study shows that, unlike or always prefer longer will often self-impose binding deadline form commitment, naïve not, how varies with changes underlying cost, preference self-control parameters.
منابع مشابه
Procrastination , self - imposed deadlines and other commitment devices
In this paper we model a decision maker who must exert costly effort to complete a single task by a fixed deadline. Effort costs evolve stochastically in continuous time. The decision maker will then optimally wait to exert effort until costs are less than a given threshold, the solution to an optimal stopping time problem. We derive the solution to this model for three cases: (1) time consiste...
متن کاملProcrastination, deadlines, and performance: self-control by precommitment.
Procrastination is all too familiar to most people. People delay writing up their research (so we hear!), repeatedly declare they will start their diets tomorrow, or postpone until next week doing odd jobs around the house. Yet people also sometimes attempt to control their procrastination by setting deadlines for themselves. In this article, we pose three questions: (a) Are people willing to s...
متن کاملPresent-Bias, Procrastination and Deadlines in a Field Experiment∗
We study procrastination in the context of a field experiment involving students who must exert costly effort to complete certain tasks by a fixed deadline. We find that students display a strong demand for commitment in the form of self-imposed deadlines. However, deadlines appear not to increase task completion rates. Students who report themselves as being more disorganized do delay task com...
متن کاملOptimal Time-Inconsistent Beliefs: Misplanning, Procrastination, and Commitment
We develop a structural theory of beliefs and behavior that relaxes the assumption of time consistency in beliefs. Our theory is based on the trade-off between optimism, which raises anticipatory utility, and objectivity, which promotes efficient actions. We present it in the context of allocating work on a project over time, develop testable implications to contrast it with models assuming tim...
متن کاملCommitment Devices
People set goals. They promise to smoke less, to save more, to drink less, to work more, to eat less and to exercise more. They set goals with varying levels of formality, making promises to themselves, vows to spouses, or bets with friends. These same people regularly fail to meet their goals. They keep smoking, spend money on things they later regret, and throw out perished vegetables while e...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
ژورنال
عنوان ژورنال: Economic Theory
سال: 2021
ISSN: ['1432-0479', '0938-2259']
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00199-021-01381-6