Donoghue, T.
REVIEW, not a primary study. Covers three decades of empirical research on intertemporal choice, discusses why implicit discount rates vary so widely across studies, and stresses separating time preference proper from the other considerations that shape intertemporal choices. USE FOR ONE POINT ONLY: the default direction of the literature is impatience, savouring is the anomaly rather than the baseline, and measured discount rates are too variable for any single number to be quoted. Note that Loewenstein co-authors the review that frames his own 1987 anomaly inside a messy field
REVIEW, not a primary study. Covers three decades of empirical research on intertemporal choice, discusses why implicit discount rates vary so widely across studies, and stresses separating time preference proper from the other considerations that shape intertemporal choices. USE FOR ONE POINT ONLY: the default direction of the literature is impatience, savouring is the anomaly rather than the baseline, and measured discount rates are too variable for any single number to be quoted. Note that Loewenstein co-authors the review that frames his own 1987 anomaly inside a messy field
Written from the abstract read 2026-10-18.
What our sources record
Recorded when this source was checked, figures included, with page references and quotation marks removed.
(2002). Time Discounting and Time Preference: A Critical Review. Journal of Economic Literature, 40(2), 351-401. doi:10.1257/002205102320161311.