Economic analysis of self-control: Theory and empirical analysis

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26380239
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Economic theory
• Research Institution: Osaka University
• Principal Investigator: Ikeda Shinsuke 大阪大学, 社会経済研究所, 教授 (70184421)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: セルフコントロール / 双曲割引 / 時間選好 / 負債 / 意志力 / ストレス / 糖尿病 / 健康

Outline of Final Research Achievements

By theoretically and empirically examining the critical roles of self-control for consumers’ efficient decision making, this project develops an empirically relevant consumer theory.
It contributes to the literature firstly by developing a consumer model with costly self-control due to limited willpower, and secondly by empirically detecting significant associations between self-harming behaviors (e.g., smoking, excess debts, overeating and other unhealthy behaviors) and self-control trait, measured by the degree of being present-oriented in decision making. The contributions are published as six refereed articles, one single-authored book, and two co-authored books, all of which are written in English.

Free Research Field

経済学、理論経済学、行動経済学