Time discounting, present biases, and health-related behaviors: Evidence from Japan

Time preferences, diabetes self‐management behaviours and outcomes: a systematic review

“…According to theory, a higher discount rate, all else being equal, should result in less health promotion, as costs incurred now are weighted higher than the expected longterm health benefits; thus, it is likely that differences in HbA 1c predicted by time preferences are mediated by selfcare activities, with two studies finding some evidence of this [35,39] and one study suggesting that present bias is an independent driver of self-care [40]. Associations between time preferences, health behaviours and outcomes have also been found in relation to unhealthy food intake [11][12][13], obesity [22][23][24], physical inactivity [14,15] and smoking [16][17][18][19][20][21], further strengthening the findings identified in this review. In general, the literature on causal inference between time preferences and health behaviour is sparse [9,10], and only one of the included papers was able to claim causality [40].…”

“…Several models that capture time-inconsistent, presentbiased preferences have been proposed, including hyperbolic and quasi-hyperbolic models (mathematical descriptions of discounting models are provided in Appendix S1) [29]. These models have been used to explain why some individuals may, against their own current self-interest, experience barriers in changing their lifestyle and be less likely to engage in healthrelated activities with immediate costs, such as exercising [14,15], eating healthily [12,13] or abstaining from smoking [16][17][18][19][20][21].…”

“…Previous literature has found associations between higher discount rates and worse health-related behaviours and outcomes in the context of food intake [11][12][13], exercise [14,15], smoking [16][17][18][19][20][21] and obesity [22][23][24]. Although unhealthy behaviour, from the individual perspective, might be a rational choice, it is likely to impose additional costs to the healthcare sector, providing a rationale for targeted health interventions.…”

Factors affecting participation in health checkups: Evidence from Japanese survey data

“…While a number of studies have been conducted on this issue in Japan (e.g., Iwasaki et al, 2003;Funahashi et al, 2013;Takahashi et al, 2008;Mitsuhashi et al, 2006), most have focused on socio-demographic factors. 1 At the same time, several studies on time preference have reported that an individual's time preference can be associated with his/her health-related behaviors (e.g., Kang and Ikeda, 2016;Ikeda et al, 2010). Thus, it is considered that time preference may be an important factor affecting one's decision to get a health checkup.…”

Self‐control and dental caries among elementary school children in Japan

“…Another explanation is suggested from a behavioural economics perspective: some people prefer immediate rewards, even if the reward is smaller than the future reward . The extent of this tendency, called “time discounting,” is known to be associated with behaviour‐related health problems such as tooth loss and obesity . In the present study, children with lower self‐control might be likely to discount the future benefits of toothbrushing (ie, prevention of dental caries) and did not brush their teeth.…”