Intertemporal choice--toward an integrative framework.
Intertemporal choices are decisions with consequences that play out over time. These choices range from the prosaic--how much food to eat at a meal--to life-changing decisions about education, marriage, fertility, health behaviors and savings. Intertemporal preferences also affect policy debates about long-run challenges, such as global warming. Historically, it was assumed that delayed rewards were discounted at a constant rate over time. Recent theoretical and empirical advances from economic, psychological and neuroscience perspectives, however, have revealed a more complex account of how individuals make intertemporal decisions. We review and integrate these advances. We emphasize three different, occasionally competing, mechanisms that are implemented in the brain: representation, anticipation and self-control.
Berns
Gregory S
GS
Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA. gberns@emory.edu
Laibson
David
D
Loewenstein
George
G
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D013997:Time Factors