Editing Time preference (section)

== Estimating time preference and domain differences ==
Although classic economics would say that the discount rate should be the same across domains, empirical findings have shown that this is not true. There are differences in how people discount outcomes in different domains. Specifically, three fields have been examined: money, health, and climate.

Initial research in this area was pioneered by Chapman and Elstein, who discovered discrepancies between how people discount health versus monetary outcomes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chapman |first1=G. B. |last2=Elstein |first2=A. S. |date=1995 |title=Valuing the future: temporal discounting of health and money |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8544681/ |journal=Medical Decision Making|volume=15 |issue=4 |pages=373–386 |doi=10.1177/0272989X9501500408 |issn=0272-989X |pmid=8544681}}</ref> They asked people about how much they would trade between current and future money, health, and vacation outcomes. They had to choose between sooner smaller and larger later outcomes of money payments, vacation days, and illness treatment.  

The findings from Odum, Baumann, and Rimington echoed earlier research by showing that individuals displayed more patience when discounting money compared to directly consumable rewards such as alcohol and food.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Odum |first1=Amy L. |last2=Baumann |first2=Ana A.L. |last3=Rimington |first3=Delores D. |date=November 2006 |title=Discounting of delayed hypothetical money and food: Effects of amount |journal=Behavioural Processes |language=en |volume=73 |issue=3 |pages=278–284 |doi=10.1016/j.beproc.2006.06.008|pmid=16926071 |s2cid=10772194 }}</ref> This result, however, was only found within-subjects, meaning that people who were asked both questions discounted consumables more steeply. Between subjects (asking each group only one of the questions) did not replicate. Similar results were highlighted by Estle et al., who found consistent patterns of steeper discounting for direct consumables compared to monetary rewards.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Estle |first1=Sara J. |last2=Green |first2=Leonard |last3=Myerson |first3=Joel |last4=Holt |first4=Daniel D. |date=January 2007 |title=Discounting of monetary and directly consumable rewards |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17362379/ |journal=Psychological Science |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=58–63 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01849.x |issn=0956-7976 |pmid=17362379}}</ref> This result has been confirmed in many subsequent studies, with the hypothesis pointing to the fact that temptation is a driving factor in the difference.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tsukayama |first1=Eli |last2=Duckworth |first2=Angela Lee |date=April 2010 |title=Domain-specific temporal discounting and temptation |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/judgment-and-decision-making/article/domainspecific-temporal-discounting-and-temptation/6B3E7D9816D2C32F5161C9423EF5E836 |journal=Judgment and Decision Making |language=en |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=72–82 |doi=10.1017/S1930297500000930 |issn=1930-2975|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Domain differences have also been found with respect to climate change. The climate discount rate has been compared to health and money. Some studies find that it is discounted differently. Further supporting the importance of domain-specific differences, Tabi utilized revealed preferences to measure discounting differences in domains including winning money, flood risk prevention, life-saving measures, and climate costs.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tabi |first=Andrea |date=2013 |title=Using the Stated Preference Method for the Calculation of Social Discount Rate |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43774175 |journal=Society and Economy |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=167–186 |doi=10.1556/SocEc.2013.0003 |jstor=43774175 |issn=1588-9726}}</ref> His findings revealed significant variability, ranging from a discount rate of 3% for saving lives in 100 years to 29% for adaptation efforts to prevent flooding. This substantial variation underscores the unique considerations each domain carries.

Together, these reviews indicate that the domain of the reward or consequence plays a significant role in discounting behavior, whether it involves money, health, consumables, or environmental outcomes. The insights from these studies emphasize the importance of understanding domain-specific discounting to inform policy and decision-making across various fields.