Collective intertemporal decisions and heterogeneity in groups

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Glaetzle-Ruetzler, Daniela; Lergetporer, Philipp; Sutter, Matthias
• 署名单位: University of Innsbruck; Technical University of Munich; Leibniz Association; Ifo Institut; Leibniz Association; Ifo Institut; Max Planck Society; University of Cologne; University of Innsbruck; IZA Institute Labor Economics
• 刊物名称: GAMES AND ECONOMIC BEHAVIOR
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0899-8256
• DOI: 10.1016/j.geb.2021.07.009
• 发表日期: 2021
• 页码: 131-147
• 关键词: Patience; time preferences; Group decisions; Payoff heterogeneity; experiment

摘要

Many important intertemporal decisions are made by groups rather than individuals. What happens to collective decisions when there is internal conflict about the tradeoff between present and future has not been thoroughly investigated so far. We study experimentally the causal effect of group members' heterogeneous payoffs from waiting on intertemporal choices. We find that three-person groups behave more patiently than individuals. This effect stems from the presence of at least one group member with a high payoff from waiting. We analyze additional treatments, group chat content, and survey data to uncover the mechanism through which heterogeneity in groups increases patience. (C) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.