We consider a decision maker who experiences transient preference shocks when faced with dynamic decision situations that involve intertemporal tradeoffs, such as those in consumption savings problems. We axiomatize a recursive representation of choice over infinite horizon consumption problems that features uncertain consumption utilities that evolve according to a subjective process that is iid. A generalization of the model introduces objective states of the world and accommodates persistent taste shocks that are transient, contingent on the state. In the corresponding representation the uncertainty about utilities depends on the exogenous state, which follows a subjective Markov process. The parameters of the representations, which are the subjective processes governing the evolution of beliefs over consumption utilities, and the discount factor, are uniquely identified from behavior. We characterize a natural notion of greater preference for flexibility in terms of a dilation of beliefs.
We consider the following two-period problem of self-control. In the first period, an individual has to decide on the set of feasible choices from which she will select one in the second period. In the second period, the individual might choose an alternative that she would find inferior in the first period, an eventuality that need not occur with certainty. We propose a model for this problem and axioms for first-period preferences, in which the second-period choice could be interpreted as being made by an “alter ego” who appears randomly. We provide a discussion of the behavioral implications of our model as compared with existing theories. (JEL D11, D80)
Electronic medical record keeping has led to increased interest in analyzing historical patient data to improve care delivery. Such research use of patient data, however, raises concerns about confidentiality and institutional liability. Institutional review boards must balance patient data security with a researcher's ability to explore potentially important clinical relationships. We considered the issues involved when patient records from health care institutions are used in medical research. We also explored current regulations on patient confidentiality, the need for identifying information in research, and the effectiveness of deidentification and data security. We will present an algorithm for researchers to use to think about the data security needs of their research, and we will introduce a vocabulary for documenting these techniques in proposals and publications.
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