22,051 research outputs found

    The Malleability of Undiscounted Utilitarianism as a Criterion of Intergenerational Justice

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    Undiscounted utilitarianism as a criterion of intergeneration justice has been questioned for different reasons: It has been argued (1) that any complete ordering of allocations with an infinite number of generations guaranteeing an optimal allocation must involve discounting, and (2) that undiscounted utilitarianism subjects the present generation to heavy demands and leads to outcomes that do not appeal to our ethical intuitions. In a previous work (Asheim, Buchholz & Tungodden, forthcoming in J. Env. Econ. Man.) we have shown that equal treatment of different generations is not incompatible with the existence of maximal allocations, given that one considers technologies that are productive (in a given sense). In this paper we consider the second argument. We show within three classes of technologies (linear, Ramsey and Dasgupta-Heal-Solow tech-nologies) that undiscounted utilitarianism is so malleable that any efficient and non-decreasing allocation can be the unique optimum given the utilitarian criterion, provided that the utility function is appropriately chosen. Hence, undiscounted utilitarianism allows for optimal allocations and need not lead to unequal distributions imposing a too heavy burden on the present generation.Utilitarianism, intergenerational justice

    Smokers, Smoking Deprivation, and Time Discounting

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    This paper investigates whether smokers exhibit greater time discounting than non-smokers, and how short-term nicotine deprivation affects time discounting. A unique feature of our experiment is that our subjects receive rewards not only of money, but also of actual tobacco. This is done in order to elicit smokersf true preferences. Smokers are more impatient than non-smokers, consistent with previous studies. Additionally, nicotine deprivation makes smokers even more impatient. These results suggest that nicotine concentration has different effects on time preferences in the short and long runs.

    Tariff-Mediated Network Effects versus Strategic Discounting: Evidence from German Mobile Telecommunications

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    Mobile telecommunication operators routinely charge subscribers lower prices for calls on their own network than for calls to other networks (on-net discounts). Studies on tariff-mediated network effects suggest this is due to large operators using on-net discounts to damage smaller rivals. Alternatively, research on strategic discounting suggests small operators use on-net discounts to advertise with low on-net prices. We test the relative strength of these effects using data on tariff setting in German mobile telecommunications between 2001 and 2009. We find that large operators are more likely to offer tariffs with on-net discounts but there is no consistently significant difference in the magnitude of discounts. Our results suggest that tariff-mediated network effects are the main cause of on-net discounts

    Heterogeneity in Intra-Monthly Consumption Patterns, Self-Control, and Savings at Retirement

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    Using data from the Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals, this pa- per describes the shape of consumption profiles over the month for Social Security benefit recipients. Individuals with income mostly made up of Social Security ben- efits and who have some savings smooth consumption over the pay period, while individuals with little savings consume 25 percent fewer calories the week before checks are received relative to the week after checks are received. The findings for individuals with little savings are inconsistent with the Permanent Income/Lifecycle Hypothesis, but are consistent with hyperbolic discounting.hyperbolic consumption, caloric consumption, paychecks, Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals.

    Rates of Time Preferences for Saving Lives in the Hazardous Waste Site Context

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    What is the rate at which people discount future lives saved? The answer to this question has important implications when comparing policies on the grounds of cost per life saved, especially in the context of hazardous waste site remediation, where risk reductions may occur at different times, depending on the permanence of the remedy. We estimate this rate by asking a sample of Italian residents to choose between saving 100 lives now and X lives in T years, where both X and T are varied to the respondents. Assuming constant exponential discounting, the responses to these questions imply a rate of time preference for saving lives of 12%. There is little evidence that this rate is systematically associated with observable individual characteristics of the respondent. There is, however, strong evidence that it declines with the time horizon when the lives would be saved, ranging from 16% for T=10 to less than 4% for T³40. We fit a hyperbolic discount model, finding that it yields a similar value of the discount function for T=10 (the shortest horizon we used in the survey), and that it discounts the future less heavily than the regular exponential discounting model for longer time horizon. We apply our estimated discount functions to two alternate remedial plans for a heavily contaminated area in Italy, and find that—due to the high estimated discount rates—the less permanent solution is found to be more cost-effective.Value of a Statistical Life, Latent Risk Reductions, Individual Discount Rates, Rate of Time Preference for Saving Lives, Contaminated Sites, Remediation

    Human Capital, Resource Constraints and Intergenerational Fairness

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    This paper studies an endogenous growth model with human capital, exhaustible resources, and overlapping generations. Under laissez-faire, higher study time reduces depletion rates by increasing the share of re- sources that present generations are willing to sell to successors. However, selfish behavior may prevent competitive sustained growth, and implement- ing utilitarian allocations generally induces optimal-and-sustainable paths. It is shown that: (i) raising study time and decreasing resource depletion are always complementary targets in optimal policies; (ii) growth effects are stronger the lower the optimal share of exploited resources; (iii) gener- ational welfare gains from optimal policies are delayed by faster depletion and, contrary to intuition, anticipated by lower social discount rates.Endogenous Growth, Exhaustible Resources, Human Capital, Over- lapping Generations, Intergenerational Fairness, Sustainability

    Job Search and Impatience

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    How does impatience affect job search? More impatient workers search less intensively and set a lower reservation wage. The effect on the exit rate from unemployment is unclear. In this paper we show that, if agents have exponential time preferences, the reservation wage effect dominates for sufficiently patient individuals, so increases in impatience lead to higher exit rates. The opposite is true for agents with hyperbolic time preferences: more impatient workers search less and exit unemployment later. Using two large longitudinal data sets, we find that various measures of impatience are negatively correlated with search effort and the exit rate from unemployment, and are orthogonal to reservation wages. Overall, impatience has a large effect on job search outcomes in the direction predicted by the hyperbolic discounting model.
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