The intertemporal choice behaviour: Classical and alternative delay discounting models and control techniques

Abstract

Hyperbolic discounting refers to the tendency for people to increasingly choose a smaller-sooner reward over a larger-later reward as the delay occurs sooner rather than later in time. When offered a larger reward in exchange for waiting a set amount of time, people act less impulsively (i.e., choose to wait) as the rewards happen further in the future. Put another way, people avoid waiting more as the wait nears the present time.

Keywords

• Behavioural finance
• Preferences
• Hyperbolic discounting