Dyskontowanie odłożonych w czasie zysków i strat w świetle teorii perspektywy
Discounting of deferred profits and losses in view of the prospect theory

Summary/Abstract: The prospect theory assumes that while making decisions, people assess available possibilities from a certain reference point. Events which in their relation to the reference point are treated as losses are felt more strongly than those perceived as gains. Numerous studies suggest that this is precisely the case in intertemporal choice as future monetary payments are discounted to a larger degree than receipts. Moreover, surveys indicate that people apply various rates when asked how much money they would have to get now in order to give up a thousand PLN in a year (the amount paid today should be smaller, which may cause that such an exchange feels like a loss), and various rates when asked how much they would like to get in exchange for waiting to pocket a thousand PLN, which should be paid today (in this situations respondent may feel as if he were gaining something). It is the other way round, if the interested party was to transfer the amounts to another agent. The article presents the results of the survey regarding the discounting of gains and losses conducted among the students of two higher education institutions in Wrocław. The results suggest that people fairly often discount monetary payments as strongly as monetary receipts. If the effect of outcome sign is observed, then it is rather the kind of effect by which one has to offer higher interest rates to induce somebody to withdraw their deposit money at a later point in time than the interest rate needed to induce people to repay their credit earlier.

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