Time preferences and their life outcome correlates: Evidence from a representative survey

Arbeitspapier

We collect data on time preferences of a representative sample of the Hungarian population in a non-incentivized way and investigate how patience and present bias associate with important life outcomes in five domains: i) educational attainment, ii) unemployment, iii) income and wealth, iv) financial decisions and difficulties, and v) health. Based on the literature, we formulate the broad hypotheses that patience fosters, while present bias hinders positive outcomes in the domains under study. We document a consistent and often significant positive effect of patience in almost all areas (except unemployment), with the strongest effects in escaping low educational attainment, wealth and financial decisions. We find that present bias associates significantly with saving decisions and financial troubles.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Budapest Working Papers on the Labour Market ; No. BWP - 2019/1

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis ; Household Saving; Personal Finance ; Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions ; Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: General‡ ; Health Behavior ; Analysis of Education
• Subject: educational attainment ; financial decisions and difficulties ; income and wealth ; patience ; present bias ; risk preferences

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Horn, Dániel ; Kiss, Hubert János
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies
• (where): Budapest
• (when): 2019

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/200353
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:45 AM CET