TY  - JOUR
AU  - Chabris,Christopher F.
AU  - Laibson,David
AU  - Morris,Carrie L.
AU  - Schuldt,Jonathon P.
AU  - Taubinsky,Dmitry
TI  - Measuring intertemporal preferences using response times
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 14353
PY  - 2008
Y2  - September 2008
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14353
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14353.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Christopher F.. Chabris
Union College
807 Union Street
Schenectady, NY 12308
E-Mail: chabrisc@union.edu

David Laibson
Department of Economics
Littauer M-12
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: 617/496-3402
Fax: 617/495-8570
E-Mail: dlaibson@gmail.com

Carrie L. Morris
Washington University School of Medicine
Campus Box 8505
4444 Forest Park Avenue
Campus Box
St. Louis, MO 63108
E-Mail: clmorris@post.harvard.edu

Jonathon P. Schuldt
Department of Psychology
University of Michigan
3232 East Hall
530 Church St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
E-Mail: jschuldt@umich.edu

Dmitry Taubinsky
E-Mail: taubinsk@fas.harvard.edu
AB  - We use two different approaches to measure intertemporal preferences. First we employ the classical method of inferring preferences from a series of choices (subjects choose between $X now or $Y in D days). Second we adopt the novel approach of inferring preferences using only response time data from the same choices (how long it takes subjects to choose between $X now or $Y in D days). In principle, the inference from response times should work, since choices between items of nearly equivalent value should take longer than choices between items with substantially different values. We find that choice-based analysis and response-time-based analysis yield nearly identical discount rate estimates. We conclude that response time data sheds light on both our revealed (choice-based) preferences and on the cognitive processes that implement those preferences.
ER  -