in this paper we first describe the stochastic optimal control algorithm called ((optcon)). the algorithm minimizes an intertemporal objective loss function subject to a nonlinear dynamic system in order to achieve optimal value of control (or instrument) variables. second as an application, we implemented the algorithm by the statistical programming system ((gauss)) to determine the optimal fi...

Intertemporal choice has drawn attention in behavioral economics, econophysics, and neuroeconomics. Recent studies in mainstream economics have mainly focused on inconsistency in intertemporal choice (dynamic inconsistency); while impulsivity/impatience in intertemporal choice has been extensively studied in behavioral economics of addiction. However, recent advances in neuroeconomic and econop...

Stochastic optimal control is concerned with sequential decision-making under uncertainty. The theory of dynamic risk measures gives values to stochastic processes (costs) as time goes on and information accumulates. Both theories coin, under the same vocable of time-consistency (or dynamic-consistency), two different notions: the latter is consistency between successive evaluations of a stocha...

In this paper, the sustainability of public debt is interpreted as the result of the interaction of fiscal policy with the economic environment, and not as a statistical concept as in most of the recent literature. If debt must not explode over time, policy makers have to respond to the changing conditions in the macroeconomic environment. This paper defines the conditions which will ensure com...

A large panel of German municipalities is employed in order to investigate the dynamic fiscal policy adjustment of local jurisdictions using a VEC model which explicitly takes account of the intertemporal budget constraint. The results confirm the central role of expenditure adjustment, nevertheless a substantial part of adjustment is due to changes in intergovernmental transfers, in particular...

Intertemporal choices - involving decisions which trade off instant and delayed outcomes - are often made under stress. It remains unknown, however, whether and how stress affects intertemporal choice. We subjected 142 healthy male subjects to a laboratory stress or control protocol, and asked them to make a series of intertemporal choices either directly after stress, or 20 minutes later (resu...

................................................................................................................................. 1 1 General Introduction .............................................................................................................. 5 1.1 Decision making and rewards in relation to intertemporal choice and health-related behaviour ...................................

We analyse intertemporal poverty in two important dimensions – income and nutrition – in less developed northwest China during 2000-2004. A generalised recursive selection model is proposed which enables simultaneous estimation of the causes of intertemporal poverty within and between dimensions. Improvement in agricultural production is crucial for reducing both dimensions of intertemporal pov...

This article presents the effects of alternative fiscal policies on the intertemporal government budget constraint when the time horizon of the policy maker varies. I show that the wealth effect associated with cuts in the skill-adjusted labor income tax rate improves the intertemporal budget balance, whereas the intertemporal substitution effect associated with the physical capital income tax ...

Physicians’ recommendations often require prediction of patients’ intertemporal preferences. Towards the end of understanding the character of these predictions, we conduct laboratory experiments exploring the existence of stereotypes in intertemporal decision-making. Participants were asked to predict intertemporal decisions made by third parties described only by age and gender. We find evide...