{"title":"Hyperbolic discounting and state-dependent commitment","authors":"Takayuki Ogawa, Hiroaki Ohno","doi":"10.1111/ecca.12507","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>In a stochastic economy with uninsurable endowment risk, we establish a condition under which hyperbolic-discounting consumers commit to a future consumption path using both illiquid assets and borrowing constraints as commitment devices. There is the possibility that a state-dependent commitment can be adopted as an equilibrium consumption strategy. On a path leading to low future endowment, the current self can commit to its own optimal consumption path, which is undesirable for future selves. In contrast, along the path with a high future endowment, the current self cannot make a commitment and must accept a consumption allocation that future selves will revise. Thus, depending on what stochastic state will arise, people cannot fully utilize the available commitment devices in risky situations.</p>","PeriodicalId":48040,"journal":{"name":"Economica","volume":"91 362","pages":"414-445"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6000,"publicationDate":"2023-12-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Economica","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ecca.12507","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ECONOMICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
In a stochastic economy with uninsurable endowment risk, we establish a condition under which hyperbolic-discounting consumers commit to a future consumption path using both illiquid assets and borrowing constraints as commitment devices. There is the possibility that a state-dependent commitment can be adopted as an equilibrium consumption strategy. On a path leading to low future endowment, the current self can commit to its own optimal consumption path, which is undesirable for future selves. In contrast, along the path with a high future endowment, the current self cannot make a commitment and must accept a consumption allocation that future selves will revise. Thus, depending on what stochastic state will arise, people cannot fully utilize the available commitment devices in risky situations.
期刊介绍:
Economica is an international journal devoted to research in all branches of economics. Theoretical and empirical articles are welcome from all parts of the international research community. Economica is a leading economics journal, appearing high in the published citation rankings. In addition to the main papers which make up each issue, there is an extensive review section, covering a wide range of recently published titles at all levels.