Topic
Elicited time preference and risk preference used to explain real-world economic decisions.
University of Bath researchers found the most patient of more than 21,000 UK workers were about 50% more likely than the most impatient to start a business. Whether coaching patience would produce more or better founders is beyond what survey data can test.
Reality
People in a Wharton-led study set the smallest worthwhile gift about 70% above what recipients would accept, so many holding only a small sum gave nothing. For anyone running a giving drive, the authors' field test shows a lower ask brings in more contributors while pulling gifts down toward the amount asked.
Reality
University of Padova researchers found classic mental accounting effects across 5,589 people in 21 countries in the first large-scale replication test. Pricing and incentive designs built on the effect keep their evidence, though that evidence comes from answers to hypothetical scenarios.
Reality
Victoria Medvec says the party who moves first usually does better, but not before a job offer exists. Caio Waisman's eBay data adds that the side who already made the offer gains again by answering slowly.
Reality
A CEBI-led PNAS study links incentivised money choices by Danish 18-year-olds to the programs they later applied for. Ten ranks more patience came with almost 1.5 extra years of schooling.
Reality