Consumption-Savings Decisions with Quasi-Geometric Discounting

Preprint
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
  • 1 May 2001
    • preprint
      • Published in RePEc
Abstract
How do individuals with time-inconsistent preferences make consumption-savings decisions? We try to answer this question by considering the simplest possible form of consumption-savings problem, assuming that discountingg is quasi-geometric. A solution to the decision problem is then a subgame-perfect equilibrium of a dynamic game between the individual's "successive selves." When the time horizon is finite, our question has a well-defined answer in terms of primitives. When the time horizon is infinite, we are left without a sharp answer: we cannot rule out the possibility that two identical individuals in the exact same situation make different decisions! In particular, there is a continuum of dynamic equilibria even if we restrict attention to equilibria where current consumption decisions depend only on current wealth.
All Related Versions

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: