Collaborative Research: Estimating Compensated Discount Functions

这项研究使用经济实验来实证检验人们如何在动态情况下做出经济决策的基本理论。 现有的跨期选择实验并没有提供支持或反对这些理论的决定性证据，因为它们没有控制受试者可能期望未来财务状况发生变化的事实。 研究人员进行了一系列旨在解决这个问题的实验。 在他们的实验中，他们要求受试者在根据受试者的真实的收入而定的日期奖励中做出决定。 奖品是向受试者支付的金钱或向受试者选择的慈善机构捐款。 这些实验是与冰岛国税局和雷克雅未克大学的研究人员合作在冰岛进行的。 冰岛是独一无二的，因为根据冰岛法律，个人所得税申报表是公开信息，因此调查人员将能够确定每个受试者在未来几年的实际收入。 这项研究将解决经济学中与公共政策直接相关的争论。 研究人员一直担心，许多人在动态情况下不会做出一致的选择。 如果是这样的话，那么社会可能会更好地与公共政策，限制个人选择退休储蓄，不健康的行为，以及其他商品，其中一个人可能会选择快乐今天，尽管在未来的巨大成本。 结果将告诉我们，不一致的选择是否真的是一种普遍现象。

This research uses economic experiments to empirically test fundamental theories about how people make economic decisions in dynamic situations. Existing experiments on intertemporal choice do not provide conclusive evidence for or against these theories, because they do not control for the fact that subjects might expect changes in their future financial situation. The investigators conduct a series of experiments designed to address this problem. In their experiments, they ask subjects to decide between dated prizes that are contingent on the subject's real income. The prizes are either a money payment to the subject or a contribution to a charity chosen by the subject. The experiments are conducted in Iceland in collaboration with researchers from the Internal Revenue Services of Iceland and the University of Reykjavik. Iceland is unique because under Icelandic law personal income tax returns are public information, so the investigators will be able to determine each subjects actual earned income in future years. This research will resolve a debate in economics that is directly relevant for public policy. Researchers have been concerned that many people do not make consistent choices in dynamic situations. If this is the case, then society may be better off with public policies that constrain individual choices about retirement savings, unhealthy behaviors, and other goods where an individual may choose pleasure today despite large costs in the future. The results will tell us if inconsistent choices are truly a widespread phenomenon.