Discount rate heterogeneity among older households: a puzzle?

Article dans une revue: We put forward a method for estimating discount rates using wealth and income data. We build consumption from these data using the budget constraint. Consumption transitions yield discount rates by household groups. Applying this technique to a sample of older households, we find a similar distribution to those previously estimated using field data, though with a much lower mean than those found using experiments. Surprisingly, among this older population, patience is negatively correlated with education and numeracy. This goes against the positive correlation found for younger populations in experiments and some field studies. We discuss potential explanations for this result.

Auteur(s)

Antoine Bozio, Guy Laroque, Cormac O’dea

Revue
  • Journal of Population Economics
Date de publication
  • 2017
Mots-clés JEL
D12 D31 D91 E21
Mots-clés
  • Time preference
  • Discount rate
  • Consumption
Pages
  • 647 – 680
Version
  • 1
Volume
  • 30