This study examines whether individuals' time preferences are affected by the damage resulting from the tsunami in the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, using panel surveys before and after the earthquake. When the change in time preferences is measured using the (β, δ) model, I find that the present bias tendency is increased (shrinking β), although the change in the time discount rate (δ) is not statistically significant for those affected by the tsunami. This study also investigates changes in time preferences using other behavioral indicators. The results show that those affected by the tsunami are more prone to impulse shopping, procrastination, unplanned overconsumption, and increased body mass indices (BMI). Moreover, I find gender heterogeneous changes in time preferences. Changes in time preferences appeared in males immediately after the earthquake in 2012 and 2013, and have been subsiding thereafter. On the other hand, these changes appeared in females in 2016 and 2017, i.e., after a lag since the earthquake.

This study examines whether individuals' time preferences are affected by the damage resulting from the tsunami in the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011, using panel surveys before and after the earthquake. When the change in time preferences is measured using the (β, δ) model, I find that the present bias tendency is increased (shrinking β), although the change in the time discount rate (δ) is not statistically significant for those affected by the tsunami. This study also investigates changes in time preferences using other behavioral indicators. The results show that those affected by the tsunami are more prone to impulse shopping, procrastination, unplanned overconsumption, and increased body mass indices (BMI). Moreover, I find gender heterogeneous changes in time preferences. Changes in time preferences appeared in males immediately after the earthquake in 2012 and 2013, and have been subsiding thereafter. On the other hand, these changes appeared in females in 2016 and 2017, i.e., after a lag since the earthquake.

The poor live paycheck to paycheck and are repeatedly exposed to strong cyclical income fluctuations. We investigate whether such income fluctuations affect risk preference among the poor. If risk preference temporarily changes around payday, optimal decisions made before payday may no longer be optimal afterward, which could reinforce poverty. By exploiting Social Security payday cycles in the US, we find that risk preference among the poor relying heavily on Social Security changes around payday. Rather than cognitive decline before payday, the deterioration of mental health and relative deprivation may play a role. We find similar evidence among the Japanese elderly.

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