Time Preferences and Food Choice
Healthy food choices are a canonical example used to illustrate the importance of time preferences in behavioral economics. However, the literature lacks a direct demonstration that they are well-predicted by incentivized time preference measures. We offer direct evidence by combining a novel, two-question, incentivized time preference measurement with data from a field experiment that includes grocery purchases and consumption. Our present-focus measure is highly predictive of food choice, capturing a number of behaviors consistent with self-control problems, which provides direct evidence for the common assumption that important aspects of nutrition are driven by time preferences.
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Copy CitationAndy Brownback, Alex Imas, and Michael A. Kuhn, "Time Preferences and Food Choice," NBER Working Paper 31726 (2023), https://doi.org/10.3386/w31726.Download Citation
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Published Versions
Brownback, Andy & Imas, Alex & Kuhn, Michael A., 2026. "Time preferences and food choice," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 253(C), DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2025.105541. citation courtesy of 
Andy Brownback & Alex Imas & Michael A. Kuhn, 2026. "Time preferences and food choice," Journal of Public Economics, vol 253.
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