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Are the poor so present-biased?

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  • Rachel Cassidy

Abstract

Estimates of “present-bias” among the poor may be exaggerated if poor individuals are credit-constrained and expect to have greater liquidity in the future. I conduct an experiment in rural Pakistan which provides causal evidence of this effect. I use windfalls to generate fully exogenous variation in subjects’ liquidity constraints. I show that fluctuating liquidity has a significant and sizeable effect on measures of time-inconsistency, which does not operate via cognitive functioning. Importantly, I establish that the causation runs from tighter liquidity constraints to appearing “present-biased” — rather than truly present-biased individuals making choices which lead to tighter liquidity constraints.

Suggested Citation

  • Rachel Cassidy, 2018. "Are the poor so present-biased?," CSAE Working Paper Series 2018-19, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    • Handle: RePEc:csa:wpaper:2018-19
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    3. Ernst-Jan Bruijn & Gerrit Antonides, 2022. "Poverty and economic decision making: a review of scarcity theory," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 92(1), pages 5-37, February.
    4. Cassidy, Rachel & Fafchamps, Marcel, 2020. "Banker my neighbour: Matching and financial intermediation in savings groups," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).

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