Intra-household decision making & development: Analysis of the NIDS Wave 1 dataset

Type Working Paper - NIDS Discussion Paper no.11
Title Intra-household decision making & development: Analysis of the NIDS Wave 1 dataset
Author(s)
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2009
Page numbers 1-12
URL http://www.nids.uct.ac.za/home/index.php?/Nids-Documentation/discussion-papers.html
Abstract
People make choices every day, and those choices affect their living standards and life outcomes. Recent research suggests that most people do not always make the best choices for themselves: As an example, it is widely recognized that most of us tend to succumb to short-term impulses at the expense of long-term interests (Benabou and Tirole, 2004). Most people don’t save as much money as they ought to (especially not for old age), they spend more money on curative care than preventive care despite the fact that preventive care often is a more cost effective investment, and they procrastinate on economic and other choices in their life.

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