A formal analysis of inconsistent decisions in intertemporal choice through subjective time perception

Abstract

The framework of this paper is subjective time perception in the context of intertemporal choice, that is to say, the process of making decisions on dated outcomes (monetary or not) by an individual or a group of individuals. In this setting, the Discounted Utility model and, more specifically, the exponential discounting have been the paradigmatic methodology used to measure the preferences on delayed outcomes. However, this model can only be applied to consistent choices in which individuals do not change their preferences when the involved rewards are delayed the same time interval. Unfortunately, this is not the case of several decision scenarios where time is viewed as a subjective variable. The objective of this paper is to formally analyze the consistency of intertemporal choices governed by a discount function, derived from the exponential, where time has been distorted according to certain psychological traits of the subjects involved in the decision-making. More specifically, the different types of decreasing impatience will be characterized by focusing on the distortion derived from the subjective perspective of time. The findings of this research are very relevant in order to explain the time-related behavior of decision-makers in some noteworthy fields such as finance, psychology, marketing or sociology.