Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/296161 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 11072
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
Procrastination is often attributed to time-inconsistent preferences but may also arise when individuals derive anticipatory utility from holding optimistic beliefs about their future effort costs. This study provides a rigorous empirical test for this notion of 'motivated procrastination'. In a longitudinal experiment over four weeks, individuals must complete a cumbersome task of unknown length. We find that exogenous variation in scope for motivated reasoning results in optimistic beliefs among workers, which causally increase the deferral of work to the future. The roots for biased beliefs stem from motivated memory, such that procrastination may persist even if uncertainty is eventually resolved.
Subjects: 
anticipatory utility
beliefs
memory
motivated cognition
procrastination
real effort
task allocation
JEL: 
C91
D83
D84
D90
D91
Document Type: 
Working Paper
Appears in Collections:

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.