{"title":"乐观的起源:玻利维亚小额信贷客户的实地实验","authors":"F. Cecchi, Elske Voermans, R. Lensink","doi":"10.1086/718237","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"People often underestimate the time it takes to complete a task. We investigate the causes of such overoptimism through a lab-in-the-field experiment with microfinance clients in Bolivia testing the contribution of uncertainty, personality, and financial incentives. Our results are consistent with theories of time-inconsistent beliefs postulating the existence of anticipatory benefits, where the incentives at stake shape optimism. Correlational evidence also suggests that optimists have greater real-life outstanding debt. We propose that time preference models be adjusted to include anticipatory utility and that the role of repayment incentives in shaping overoptimistic expectations of microfinance clients should not be overlooked.","PeriodicalId":48055,"journal":{"name":"Economic Development and Cultural Change","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0000,"publicationDate":"2022-01-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"The Origins of Optimism: a Lab-in-the-Field Experiment among Microfinance Clients in Bolivia\",\"authors\":\"F. Cecchi, Elske Voermans, R. Lensink\",\"doi\":\"10.1086/718237\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"People often underestimate the time it takes to complete a task. We investigate the causes of such overoptimism through a lab-in-the-field experiment with microfinance clients in Bolivia testing the contribution of uncertainty, personality, and financial incentives. Our results are consistent with theories of time-inconsistent beliefs postulating the existence of anticipatory benefits, where the incentives at stake shape optimism. Correlational evidence also suggests that optimists have greater real-life outstanding debt. We propose that time preference models be adjusted to include anticipatory utility and that the role of repayment incentives in shaping overoptimistic expectations of microfinance clients should not be overlooked.\",\"PeriodicalId\":48055,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Economic Development and Cultural Change\",\"volume\":\" \",\"pages\":\"\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":2.0000,\"publicationDate\":\"2022-01-25\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Economic Development and Cultural Change\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"96\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1086/718237\",\"RegionNum\":3,\"RegionCategory\":\"经济学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q1\",\"JCRName\":\"AREA STUDIES\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Economic Development and Cultural Change","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1086/718237","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"AREA STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
The Origins of Optimism: a Lab-in-the-Field Experiment among Microfinance Clients in Bolivia
People often underestimate the time it takes to complete a task. We investigate the causes of such overoptimism through a lab-in-the-field experiment with microfinance clients in Bolivia testing the contribution of uncertainty, personality, and financial incentives. Our results are consistent with theories of time-inconsistent beliefs postulating the existence of anticipatory benefits, where the incentives at stake shape optimism. Correlational evidence also suggests that optimists have greater real-life outstanding debt. We propose that time preference models be adjusted to include anticipatory utility and that the role of repayment incentives in shaping overoptimistic expectations of microfinance clients should not be overlooked.
期刊介绍:
Economic Development and Cultural Change (EDCC) is an economic journal publishing studies that use modern theoretical and empirical approaches to examine both the determinants and the effects of various dimensions of economic development and cultural change. EDCC’s focus is on empirical papers with analytic underpinnings, concentrating on micro-level evidence, that use appropriate data to test theoretical models and explore policy impacts related to a broad range of topics relevant to economic development.