Goal bracketing and self-control

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Hsiaw, Alice
• 署名单位: Brandeis University
• 刊物名称: GAMES AND ECONOMIC BEHAVIOR
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0899-8256
• DOI: 10.1016/j.geb.2018.06.005
• 发表日期: 2018
• 页码: 100-121
• 关键词: Choice bracketing; goals; reference dependence; self-control; Quasi-hyperbolic discounting; optimal stopping

摘要

This paper studies the role of goal bracketing to attenuate time inconsistency. When setting non-binding goals for a multi-stage project, an agent must decide how to group, or bracket, such goals for evaluation. He can bracket broadly by setting an aggregate goal for the entire project, or narrowly by setting incremental goals for individual stages. A loss averse agent brackets optimally by trading off motivation and risk pooling, which interacts non-trivially with time discounting. An aggregate goal becomes more attractive as early-stage uncertainty increases, while incremental goals become more attractive when later-stage uncertainty increases. (C) 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.