A Dual-Self Model of Impulse Control.

We propose that a simple "dual-self" model gives a unified explanation for several empirical regularities, including the apparent time inconsistency that has motivated models of quasi-hyperbolic discounting and Rabin’s paradox of risk aversion in the large and small. The model also implies that self-control costs imply excess delay, as in the O'Donoghue and Rabin models of quasi-hyperbolic utility, and it explains experimental evidence that increased cognitive load makes temptations harder to resist. The base version of our model is consistent with the Gul-Pesendorfer axioms, but we argue that these axioms must be relaxed to account for the effect of cognitive load.

• Publication year

  2006

• Venue

  The American Economic Review

• Publication date

  2006-03-01

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Economics

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1257/AER.96.5.1449PMID 29135208
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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