Distinguishing Non-Stationarity from Inconsistency in Intertemporal Choice

Description

We investigate whether departures from stationary intertemporal preferences, as identified in parametric estimations, reflect genuine nonstationarity in time preferences or arise from inconsistent or error-prone choice. Using data from a controlled lab experiment with a large number of intertemporal choices per subject, we applied nonparametric revealed preference tests to evaluate whether subjects’ behavior satisfies utility maximization and stationarity. We find that apparent violations of stationarity in parametric estimations are often better explained by misidentification due to inconsistency of choices with utility maximization or misspecification of the functional form, rather than by true nonstationary time preferences.

Period	30 Oct 2025
Event title	Research Seminar Series
Event type	Seminar/Workshop
Location	Brünn, Czech RepublicShow on map