Properties of the Social Discount Rate in a Benthamite Framework with Heterogeneous Degrees of Impatience

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Properties of the Social Discount Rate in a Benthamite Framework with Heterogeneous Degrees of Impatience

Author Info

Diego Nocetti () (CIMS - Courant Institute of Mathematical Science - New York University)
Elyès Jouini () (CEREMADE - CEntre de REcherches en MAthématiques de la DEcision - CNRS : UMR7534 - Université Paris Dauphine - Paris IX)
Clotilde Napp () (DRM - Dauphine Recherches en Management - CNRS : UMR7088 - Université Paris Dauphine - Paris IX)

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Abstract

This paper derives the properties of the discount rate that should be applied to a public-sector project when the affected population has heterogeneous degrees of impatience. We show that, for any distribution of discount rates, the social discount rate has the following properties: it decreases over time, it is lower than the average of the discount rates in the population, and it converges to the discount rate of the most patient individual in the economy. These properties hold for both constant and decreasing individual discount rates. Finally, we evaluate how changes in the distribution of individual discount rates affect the social discount rate.

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Paper provided by HAL in its series Post-Print with number halshs-00365980_v1.

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Date of creation: 10 Oct 2008
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Publication status: Published, Management Science, 2008, Vol. 54, No. 10, pp. 1822-1826
Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00365980_v1

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

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Other versions:
- Gollier, Christian & Rochet, Jean-Charles, 1998. "Discounting an Uncertain Future," CESifo Working Paper Series CESifo Working Paper No. , CESifo Group Munich.
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Other versions:
- Elyès Jouini & Clotilde Napp, 2006. "On Abel's Concept of Doubt and Pessimism," Working Papers halshs-00176611_v1, HAL. [Downloadable!]
Coleman Bazelon & Kent Smetters, 1999. "Discounting Inside the Washington D.C. Beltway," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 13(4), pages 213-228, Fall. [Downloadable!] (restricted)

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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

Elyès Jouini & Clotilde Napp, 2008. "How to aggregate experts discount rates: an equilibrium approach," Working Papers halshs-00394035_v1, HAL. [Downloadable!]
Elyès Jouini & Jean-Michel Marin & Clotilde Napp, 2008. "Discounting and Divergence of Opinion," Working Papers halshs-00176636_v2, HAL. [Downloadable!]

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