Job Search and Hyperbolic Discounting

Structural Estimation and Policy Evaluation

Datos Bibliográficos

ID9703384
AutoresM Daniele Paserman (0000-0003-0177-748X, Boston University, Boston and Hebrew University, Jerusalem, autor de correspondencia)
Año2008
Volumen118
Número531
Páginas1418-1452
Fecha de publicación2008-08-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Economic Journal (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0013-0133 • E-ISSN: 1468-0297
EditorialOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/j.1468-0297.2008.02175.x
OpenAlexW2121639131
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas16
Referencias citadas31

This article estimates the degree of hyperbolic discounting in a job search model quantitatively, using data on unemployment spells and accepted wages from the NLSY. The results point to a substantial degree of hyperbolic discounting for low and medium wage workers. The structural estimates are then used to evaluate alternative policy interventions aimed at reducing unemployment. The estimated effects of a given policy can vary by up to 40%, depending on the assumed type of time discounting. Some interventions may raise the long-run utility of hyperbolic workers, and at the same time reduce unemployment duration and lower government expenditures. Copyright (C) The Author(s). Journal compilation (C) Royal Economic Society 2008

Discounting · Duration (music · Econometrics · Economics · Estimation · Hyperbolic discounting · Labour economics · Macroeconomics · Point (geometry · Point estimation · Statistics · Unemployment · Wage · Economic theories and models · Financial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Mathematics