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  • 2021
  • Working Paper

Intertemporal Altruism

By: Thomas Graeber, Felix Chopra, Philipp Eisenhauer and Armin Falk
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
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Abstract

Standard consumption utility is linked in time to a consumption event, whereas the timing of prosocial utility flows is ambiguous. Prosocial utility may depend on the actual utility consequences for others – it is consequence-dated – or it may be related to the act of giving and is thus choice-dated. Even though most prosocial decisions involve intertemporal trade-offs, existing models of other-regarding preferences abstract from the time signature of utility flows, limiting their explanatory scope. Building on a canonical intertemporal choice framework, we characterize the behavioral implications of the time structure of prosocial utility. We conduct a high-stakes donation experiment that allows us to identify non-parametrically and calibrate structurally the different motives from their unique time profiles. We find that the universe of our choice data can only be explained by a combination of choice- and consequence-dated prosocial utility. Both motives are pervasive and negatively correlated at the individual level.

Keywords

Altruism; Donation; Intertemporal Decision-making; Time Inconsistency

Citation

Graeber, Thomas, Felix Chopra, Philipp Eisenhauer, and Armin Falk. "Intertemporal Altruism." Working Paper, September 2021. (R&R at American Economic Journal Microeconomics.)
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About The Author

Thomas W. Graeber

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

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More from the Authors
  • Cognitive Uncertainty in Intertemporal Choice By: Benjamin Enke and Thomas Graeber
  • Measuring the Scientific Effectiveness of Contact Tracing: Evidence from a Natural Experiment By: Thiemo Fetzer and Thomas Graeber
  • Bayesian Signatures of Confidence and Central Tendency in Perceptual Judgment By: Yang Xiang, Thomas Graeber, Benjamin Enke and Samuel Gershman
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