Effortful Self-Control, Consumption, and Wealth Accumulation

内省告诉我们，行为主体通常会努力克服诱惑。此外，这种努力的自我控制与amerks， Caplin和Leahy （QJE，即将出版）的发现大致一致，即计划和预算的代理人倾向于储蓄更多，积累更多的财富。建立新的理论模型和丰富自我控制的经验证据是非常重要的。该提案有两个相关但独立的部分。第一部分是实证研究。Caplin和Leahy将使用一项与TIAA-CREF合作设计和实施的新调查来研究自我控制问题在财富积累中的作用，并研究人们用来克服这些问题的机制。初步研究结果表明，本次调查中开发的自我控制措施与财富积累密切相关，并且似乎存在两种重要的自我控制问题：过度消费和消费不足。下一阶段是研究经济、行为和人口方面与自我控制相关的因素。纽约大学心理学系的Tom Tyler教授和TIAA-CREF研究所的John Ameriks博士将合作进行这项研究。第二部分是理论部分。Caplin和Leahy将开发努力自我控制的新模型，并研究其对财富积累的影响。一个初步模型表明，对风险的态度会影响消费支出的动机，对储蓄行为有重要影响。John Ameriks将参与这项研究。(1)建议活动的智力价值该项目将增加我们对消费和储蓄行为的理解。之前很少有关于努力自我控制的研究，也很少有关于自我控制对财富积累影响的估计。卡普林教授和莱希教授在调查设计和构建经济行为理论模型方面经验丰富。之前的一项调查发表在《经济学季刊》（Quarterly Journal of Economics）上，并提交给《经济学与统计评论》（Review of Economics and Statistics）。(2)拟议活动产生的更广泛影响本研究的结果将通过会议演讲和向学术期刊投稿的方式广泛传播。o与泰勒教授的合作将加深纽约大学经济系和心理学系之间的互动。这将导致经济学和心理学领域之间进一步富有成效的互动。o Caplin教授和Leahy教授将根据联邦和当地法律，尽一切善意的努力，使本项目收集的数据能够提供给其他研究人员。

Introspection tells us that agents often exert effort to overcome temptation. In addition, such effortful self-control is broadly consistent with the findings of Ameriks, Caplin and Leahy (QJE, forthcoming) that agents who plan and budget tend to save more and accumulate greater wealth. It is important to develop new theoretical models and to enrich the empirical evidence on self-control. There are two related, but independent, parts to the proposal. The first part is empirical. Caplin and Leahy will use a new survey designed and implemented in cooperation with TIAA-CREF to study the role of self- control problems in wealth accumulation and to study the mechanisms that people employ to overcome these problems. Preliminary findings indicate that the measure of self-control developed in this survey is strongly correlated with wealth accumulation and that there appear to be two important types of self-control problems: over-consumption and under-consumption. The next stage is to examine the economic, behavioral and demographic correlates of self-control. Prof. Tom Tyler of the Psychology Department of New York University and Dr. John Ameriks of the TIAA-CREF Institute will be collaborating on this research.The second part of the proposal is theoretical. Caplin and Leahy will develop new models of effortful self-control and investigate the implications for wealth accumulation. A preliminary model indicates that attitudes towards risk affect the incentive to attend to consumption expenditures with important implications for saving behavior. John Ameriks will be collaborating on this research.(1) The Intellectual Merit of the Proposed ActivityThe project will increase our understanding of consumption and saving behavior. There has been little prior work on effortful self-control and few estimates of the effect of self-control on wealth accumulation. Professors Caplin and Leahy have experience in survey design and in the construction of theoretical models of economic behavior. A previous survey led to one publication the Quarterly Journal of Economics and a submission to the Review of Economics and Statistics.(2) The Broader Impacts Resulting from the Proposed Activityo Results of this research will be disseminated broadly through conference presentations and through submissions to academic journals.o Collaboration with Prof. Tyler will deepen the interactions between the departments of Economics and Psychology at New York University. This should lead to further fruitful interaction between the fields of economics and psychology.o Professors Caplin and Leahy will make every good faith effort consistent with Federal and local law to make the data that is collected during this project available to other researchers.