Limited self-control and long-run growth

This paper integrates imperfect self-control into the standard model of endogenous growth. Individuals are conceptualized as “dual-selves” consisting of a long-run planner and a short-run doer. The long-run self can partly control the short-run self’s strife for immediate gratification. It is shown that the solution is structurally equivalent to the one of the standard endogenous growth model as long as self-control is sufficiently strong. Within a certain range of self-control an investment subsidy can be useful in order to reduce consumption and to increase investment, growth, and welfare of the long-run self. A consumption tax, perhaps surprisingly, is counterproductive. It induces individuals with limited self-control to consume even more.