from the proposal: “Although goal striving is important in people’s lives, little research has examined goal striving. In the motivation literature focus has been on goal setting and, to a much lesser degree, goal attainment. No published study has examined entrepreneurs’ goal striving, which constitutes the purpose of the study. A sample of entrepreneurs will provide the data for the study. Th...

This paper addresses the role of non-binding goals to attenuate time inconsistency. Present-biased agents have linear reference-dependent preferences and endogenously set a goal that is the reference point. They face an infinite horizon, optimal stopping problem in continuous time, where there exists an option value of waiting due to uncertainty. When there is sufficient commitment to expectati...

This paper shows that goal setting can act as an effective mechanism to induce energy efficiency and conservation actions in the residential sector. We evaluate a large-scale implementation of an energy efficiency program in Northern Illinois and conclude that, on average, households saved approximately 3%. However, savings are heterogeneous, and consumers choosing realistic goals save substant...

Every five years the US Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture issue a report containing ‘nutritional and dietary information and guidelines for the general public’, meant to help individuals select nutritious, health-promoting diets. At the writing of this editorial, the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) has just completed its last meeting bef...