Asymmetric Naïvete: Beliefs About Self-Control

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Fedyk, Anastassia
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Berkeley
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2021.01780
• 发表日期: 2025
• 页码: 6047-6068
• 关键词: economics; behavior and behavioral decision making; MICROECONOMICS; intertemporal choice; utility-preference

摘要

Do individuals anticipate time inconsistency in others? This paper jointly investigates beliefs about one's own and others' present bias. In an online laboratory experiment, participants engaged in a real-effort task display little awareness of their own present bias but anticipate present bias in others. Structurally, I estimate a present bias parameter 13 of 0.82. Participants perceive others' 13 to be 0.87, indicating substantial sophistication, contrasted with 1.03 for themselves, indicating full na & iuml;vete. At the individual level, asymmetric na & iuml;vete correlates with overoptimism regarding one's own versus others' task enjoyment and time availability. The wedge in beliefs about present bias can inform equilibrium outcomes in a number of collaborative, competitive, and hierarchical settings, including teams in the workplace, management practices such as deadlines and tournament incentive schemes, and household consumption decisions.