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Time inconsistency and retirement choice

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  • Findley, T. Scott
  • Caliendo, Frank N.

Abstract

Hyperbolic discounting with naiveté is widely believed to provide a better explanation than exponential discounting of why people borrow so much and why they wait so long to save for retirement. We reach a different set of conclusions. We show that if financial planning is enriched to include the choice of when to retire, then naive hyperbolic discounters may borrow far less and start saving for retirement significantly earlier than exponential discounters.

Suggested Citation

  • Findley, T. Scott & Caliendo, Frank N., 2015. "Time inconsistency and retirement choice," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 4-8.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:129:y:2015:i:c:p:4-8
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2015.01.027
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    1. David Laibson & Andrea Repetto & Jeremy Tobacman, 2005. "Estimating Discount Functions with Consumption Choices over the Lifecycle," Levine's Bibliography 784828000000000643, UCLA Department of Economics.
    2. Caliendo, Frank N. & Findley, T. Scott, 2014. "Discount functions and self-control problems," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 122(3), pages 416-419.
    3. Diamond, Peter & Koszegi, Botond, 2003. "Quasi-hyperbolic discounting and retirement," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(9-10), pages 1839-1872, September.
    4. Heijdra, Ben J. & Romp, Ward E., 2009. "Retirement, pensions, and ageing," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(3-4), pages 586-604, April.
    5. Dybvig, Philip H. & Liu, Hong, 2010. "Lifetime consumption and investment: Retirement and constrained borrowing," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 145(3), pages 885-907, May.
    6. George-Marios Angeletos, 2001. "The Hyberbolic Consumption Model: Calibration, Simulation, and Empirical Evaluation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(3), pages 47-68, Summer.
    7. Marios Angeletos & David Laibson & Andrea Repetto & Jeremy Tobacman & Stephen Weinberg, 2000. "Hyperbolic Discounting, Wealth Accumulation, and Consumption," Documentos de Trabajo 90, Centro de Economía Aplicada, Universidad de Chile.
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    Cited by:

    1. Drouhin, Nicolas, 2020. "Non-stationary additive utility and time consistency," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 1-14.
    2. Torben M. Andersen, 2015. "How Should Pensions be Taxed? Theoretical Considerations and the Scandinavian Experience," CESifo Working Paper Series 5660, CESifo.
    3. Torben M. Andersen & Joydeep Bhattacharya, 2021. "Why mandate young borrowers to contribute to their retirement accounts?," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 71(1), pages 115-149, February.
    4. Strulik, Holger & Trimborn, Timo, 2018. "Hyperbolic discounting can be good for your health," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 44-57.
    5. Bielecki, Marcin & Goraus, Karolina & Hagemejer, Jan & Makarski, Krzysztof & Tyrowicz, Joanna, 2015. "Small assumptions (can) have a large bearing: evaluating pension system reforms with OLG models," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 210-221.
    6. Gopi Shah Goda & Matthew R. Levy & Colleen Flaherty Manchester & Aaron Sojourner & Joshua Tasoff, 2015. "The Role of Time Preferences and Exponential-Growth Bias in Retirement Savings," NBER Working Papers 21482, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Johannes Hagen & Daniel Hallberg & Gabriella Sjögren, 2022. "A Nudge to Quit? The Effect of a Change in Pension Information on Annuitisation, Labour Supply and Retirement Choices Among Older Workers," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(643), pages 1060-1094.
    8. Joanna Tyrowicz & Krzysztof Makarski & Marcin Bielecki, 2016. "Reforming retirement age in DB and DC pension systems in an aging OLG economy with heterogenous agents," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-36, December.
    9. Börsch-Supan, Axel & Härtl, Klaus & Leite, Duarte & Ludwig, Alexander, 2018. "Endogenous retirement behavior of heterogeneous households under pension reforms," SAFE Working Paper Series 221, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    10. Gerhard, Patrick & Gladstone, Joe J. & Hoffmann, Arvid O.I., 2018. "Psychological characteristics and household savings behavior: The importance of accounting for latent heterogeneity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 66-82.
    11. Choi, Yoonseok, 2017. "Revisiting the effect of a technology shock on hours," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 67-70.
    12. Luo, Shangzhen & Wang, Mingming & Zhu, Wei, 2022. "Time-inconsistent life-cycle consumption and retirement choice with mortality risk," Applied Mathematics and Computation, Elsevier, vol. 433(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Hyperbolic discounting; Naiveté; Retirement choice; Time inconsistency; Life-cycle consumption and saving;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C61 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Optimization Techniques; Programming Models; Dynamic Analysis
    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making

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