Measuring Time Preferences
综述了测量时间偏好的研究，区分了基于金融流（MEL决策）和基于消费/努力的研究，并展示了如何将MEL实验直接测量的回报率转化为效用贴现函数。
We review research that measures time preferences-i.e., preferences over intertemporal tradeoffs. We distinguish between studies using financial flows, which we call "money earlier or later" (MEL) decisions and studies that use time-dated consumption/effort. Under different structural models, we show how to translate what MEL experiments directly measure (required rates of return for financial flows) into a discount function over utils. We summarize empirical regularities found in MEL studies and the predictive power of those studies. We explain why MEL choices are driven in part by some factors that are distinct from underlying time preferences.