UC San Diego

In this dissertation I focus on novel mechanisms for eliciting time and risk preferences and using these methods to test neoclassical and behavioral economic models. In Chapter 1, a new methodology for eliciting time preferences, the Convex Time Budget, is introduced. In Chapter 2, the Convex Time Budget is extended to explore the relationship between hyperbolic discounting and payment risk. In Chapter 3, a new measure of risk preferences, the Uncertainty Equivalent, is introduced and used to differentiate several models of risk preferences. In Chapter 4, I generate a new test distinguish between competing models of reference dependent preferences in risky choice