LEARNING SELF-CONTROL

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Ali, S. Nageeb
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California San Diego
• 刊物名称: QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-5533
• DOI: 10.1093/qje/qjr014
• 发表日期: 2011
• 页码: 857-893
• 关键词: commitment; REPRESENTATION; inconsistency; confidence; preference; utility; MODEL

摘要

This article examines how a decision maker who is only partially aware of his temptations learns about them over time. In facing temptations, individuals use their experience to forecast future self-control problems and choose the appropriate level of commitment. I demonstrate that rational learning can be perpetually partial and need not result in full sophistication. The main result of this article characterizes necessary and sufficient conditions for learning to converge to full sophistication. I apply this result to a consumption-savings environment in which a decision maker is tempted by present bias and establish a learning-theoretic justification for assuming sophistication in this setting.