Discounting Behavior in Problem Gambling

Artikel

Problem gamblers discount delayed rewards more rapidly than do non-gambling controls. Understanding this impulsivity is important for developing treatment options. In this article, we seek to make two contributions: First, we ask which of the currently debated economic models of intertemporal choice (exponential versus hyperbolic versus quasi-hyperbolic) provides the best description of gamblers’ discounting behavior. Second, we ask how problem gamblers differ from habitual gamblers and non-gambling controls within the most favored parametrization. Our analysis reveals that the quasi-hyperbolic discounting model is strongly favored over the other two parametrizations. Within the quasi-hyperbolic discounting model, problem gamblers have both a significantly stronger present bias and a smaller long-run discount factor, which suggests that gamblers’ impulsivity has two distinct sources.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Journal: Journal of Gambling Studies ; ISSN: 1573-3602 ; Volume: 38 ; Year: 2022 ; Issue: 2 ; Pages: 529-543 ; Berlin: Springer

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft
• Subject: time preferences ; discounting ; risk ; incentives ; gambling

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Ring, Patrick ; Probst, Catharina C. ; Neyse, Levent ; Wolff, Stephan ; Kaernbach, Christian ; van Eimeren, Thilo ; Schmidt, Ulrich
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Springer
• (where): Berlin
• (when): 2022

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.1007/s10899-021-10054-x
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/236623
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET