Does a forward-looking perspective affect self-control and the demand for commitment? results from an educational intervention

Abstract

This paper reports the results from a randomized educational intervention, that aims to build a forward-looking perspective in children. We evaluate the effects of the intervention on planning, commitment and consumption decisions in an intertemporal task using a temptation good, chocolate. We find that treated children end up consuming less chocolate on the earlier date than control children. This is both because they make more patient consumption plans, and because they exhibit a type of extreme self-control, eating even less than they had planned. Treatment effects are heterogeneous on gender, with treated girls becoming less present-biased (as well as more future-biased).