Dynamic Preferences, Choice Mechanisms, and Welfare

This book surveys the literature on intertemporal utility and provides a fundamental analysis of dynamic decision making. In the survey part a comprehensive classification system is introduced which allows for a coherent organization of the heterogenous literature on intertemporal utility. The second part addresses fundamental aspects of intertemporal desicion making. Special attention is paid to "dynamic choice mechanisms". These mechanisms are rules which transform an individual's intertemporal sequence of preferences into actual decisions.