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In economics, a discount function is used in economic models to describe the weights placed on rewards received at different points in time. For example, if time is discrete and utility is time-separable, with the discount function f(t) having a negative first derivative and with c t (or c(t) in continuous time) defined as consumption at time t, total utility from an infinite stream of ...
Hyperbolic discounting is an alternative mathematical model that agrees more closely with these findings. [5] According to hyperbolic discounting, valuations fall relatively rapidly for earlier delay periods (as in, from now to one week), but then fall more slowly for longer delay periods (for instance, more than a few days).
Therefore, the preferences at t = 1 is preserved at t = 2; thus, the exponential discount function demonstrates dynamically consistent preferences over time. For its simplicity, the exponential discounting assumption is the most commonly used in economics. However, alternatives like hyperbolic discounting have more empirical support.
For example, experiments by Tversky and Kahneman showed that the same people who would choose 1 candy bar now over 2 candy bars tomorrow, would choose 2 candy bars 101 days from now over 1 candy bar 100 days from now. (This is inconsistent because if the same question were posed 100 days from now, the person would ostensibly again choose 1 ...
Discount rates and traditional economic problems both inform and are influenced by each other. For example, the interest rate plays an important role in individual discount rates. If one can accumulate interest at a certain rate, say 5% per year, one should not have a discount rate below this. Say you are offered $100 today or $105 in one year.
This placement is often, but not always, reversed in economic graphs. For example, in the supply-demand graph at the top of this page, the independent variable (price) is plotted on the vertical axis, and the dependent variable (quantity supplied or demanded), whose value depends on price, is plotted horizontally.
Time value of money problems involve the net value of cash flows at different points in time. In a typical case, the variables might be: a balance (the real or nominal value of a debt or a financial asset in terms of monetary units), a periodic rate of interest, the number of periods, and a series of cash flows. (In the case of a debt, cas
[2] [6] The "discount rate" is the rate at which the "discount" must grow as the delay in payment is extended. [7] This fact is directly tied into the time value of money and its calculations. [1] The present value of $1,000, 100 years into the future. Curves representing constant discount rates of 2%, 3%, 5%, and 7%