TELEOLOGICAL SOURCES OF SELF-COMMITMENT

Commitment and self-control

The literature on self-control problems has typically concentrated on immediate temptations. This paper studies a Gul and Pesendorfer [13, 14] style model in which decision-makers are a¤ected by temptations that lie in the future. While temptation is commonly understood to give rise to a demand for commitment, it is shown that ‘temptation by future consumption’can induce its absence. The model ...

Commitment to Self-Rewards

Commitment to Self-Rewards Self-administered rewards are ubiquitous. They serve as incentives for personal accomplishments and are widely recommended as tools for overcoming self-control problems. However, it seems puzzling why self-rewards can work: the prospect of a reward has a motivating force only if the threat of self-denial of the reward after low performance is credible. We explain how ...

Teleological understanding of actions

All organisms pursue goals that promote their survival and reproduction. For many species, the small repertoire of basic drive-related goals and behavioural means to achieve them are genetically specified and are triggered by appropriate releasing stimuli. Other species, most notably, but not exclusively, mammals and birds, have much more flexible ways to accomplish their goals, tailoring their...

Emission Cap Commitment versus Emission Intensity Commitment as Self-Regulation

We compare emission cap commitment that restricts total emissions and emission intensity commitment that restricts emissions per unit of output as measures of self-regulation. The monopolist chooses either emission cap commitment or emission intensity commitment and sets the target level under the constraint that the resulting emissions do not exceed the upper limit. We find that profit-maximiz...

The Multiple Meanings of Teleological