New study reveals key to overcoming impulsive decision-making habits
Dynamic choice models study how people's preferences change over time, especially when they prefer immediate rewards over future ones. A common model for this is quasi-hyperbolic discounting, which adds impatience to standard discounting. Researchers have found ways to calculate optimal plans for decision-makers with changing preferences, called time consistent plans. They use a method called the generalized Bellman equation to find these plans, which can also relate to the generalized Euler equation approach. This helps understand how people make sequential decisions when their preferences are inconsistent over time.