Locus of control, hyperbolic preferences, and demand for commitment and savings: Evidence from rural Ethiopia

We investigate the implications of individuals’ locus of control on time preferences in general and hyperbolic preferences in particular. We also investigate the implications of locus of control and hyperbolic preferences on demand for commitment and savings. The empirical analysis is based on a ser...

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Main Authors: Abay, Kibrom A., Berhane, Guush, Assefa, Thomas
Format: Conference Paper
Language:Inglés
Published: 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147972
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author Abay, Kibrom A.
Berhane, Guush
Assefa, Thomas
author_browse Abay, Kibrom A.
Assefa, Thomas
Berhane, Guush
author_facet Abay, Kibrom A.
Berhane, Guush
Assefa, Thomas
author_sort Abay, Kibrom A.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description We investigate the implications of individuals’ locus of control on time preferences in general and hyperbolic preferences in particular. We also investigate the implications of locus of control and hyperbolic preferences on demand for commitment and savings. The empirical analysis is based on a series of hypothetical time preference questions and choice exercises conducted on Ethiopian rural farmers. We find that locus of control significantly predicts discounting behavior in general and hyperbolic preferences in particular. We particularly find that individuals with an external locus of control are more likely to discount future payoffs hyperbolically. We further show that locus of control and hyperbolic preferences significantly predict demand for commitment devices and savings behavior. We find that those individuals with an external locus of control and those discounting future payoffs hyperbolically exhibit a higher demand for commitment device. These results provide interesting insights that may help in designing poverty reduction policies.
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spelling CGSpace1479722025-03-11T12:14:31Z Locus of control, hyperbolic preferences, and demand for commitment and savings: Evidence from rural Ethiopia Abay, Kibrom A. Berhane, Guush Assefa, Thomas policies farmers demand behaviour poverty rural areas We investigate the implications of individuals’ locus of control on time preferences in general and hyperbolic preferences in particular. We also investigate the implications of locus of control and hyperbolic preferences on demand for commitment and savings. The empirical analysis is based on a series of hypothetical time preference questions and choice exercises conducted on Ethiopian rural farmers. We find that locus of control significantly predicts discounting behavior in general and hyperbolic preferences in particular. We particularly find that individuals with an external locus of control are more likely to discount future payoffs hyperbolically. We further show that locus of control and hyperbolic preferences significantly predict demand for commitment devices and savings behavior. We find that those individuals with an external locus of control and those discounting future payoffs hyperbolically exhibit a higher demand for commitment device. These results provide interesting insights that may help in designing poverty reduction policies. 2017 2024-06-21T09:23:35Z 2024-06-21T09:23:35Z Conference Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147972 en https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2017.09.012 https://editorialexpress.com/cgi-bin/conference/download.cgi?db_name=CSAE2017&paper_id=644 Abay, Kibrom A.; Berhane, Guush; and Assefa, Thomas. 2017. Locus of control, hyperbolic preferences, and demand for commitment and savings: Evidence from rural Ethiopia. Presented at CSAE Conference 2017: Economic Development in Africa. St Catherine's College, Oxford, March 19-21, 2017. https://editorialexpress.com/cgi-bin/conference/download.cgi?db_name=CSAE2017&paper_id=644
spellingShingle policies
farmers
demand
behaviour
poverty
rural areas
Abay, Kibrom A.
Berhane, Guush
Assefa, Thomas
Locus of control, hyperbolic preferences, and demand for commitment and savings: Evidence from rural Ethiopia
title Locus of control, hyperbolic preferences, and demand for commitment and savings: Evidence from rural Ethiopia
title_full Locus of control, hyperbolic preferences, and demand for commitment and savings: Evidence from rural Ethiopia
title_fullStr Locus of control, hyperbolic preferences, and demand for commitment and savings: Evidence from rural Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed Locus of control, hyperbolic preferences, and demand for commitment and savings: Evidence from rural Ethiopia
title_short Locus of control, hyperbolic preferences, and demand for commitment and savings: Evidence from rural Ethiopia
title_sort locus of control hyperbolic preferences and demand for commitment and savings evidence from rural ethiopia
topic policies
farmers
demand
behaviour
poverty
rural areas
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147972
work_keys_str_mv AT abaykibroma locusofcontrolhyperbolicpreferencesanddemandforcommitmentandsavingsevidencefromruralethiopia
AT berhaneguush locusofcontrolhyperbolicpreferencesanddemandforcommitmentandsavingsevidencefromruralethiopia
AT assefathomas locusofcontrolhyperbolicpreferencesanddemandforcommitmentandsavingsevidencefromruralethiopia