TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Koch, Alexander K.
AU  - Nafziger, Julia
        TI  - Self-Regulation through Goal Setting
        PY  - 2008/Dec/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 3893
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp3893
        AB  - Goals are an important source of motivation. But little is known about why and how people set them. We address these questions in a model based on two stylized facts from psychology and behavioral economics: i) Goals serve as reference points for performance. ii) Present-biased preferences create self-control problems. We show how goals permit self-regulation, but also that they are painful self-disciplining devices. Greater self-control problems therefore lead to stronger self-regulation through goals only up to a certain point. For severely present-biased preferences, the required goal for self-regulation is too painful and the individual rather gives up.
        KW  - self-control
KW  - time inconsistency
KW  - motivation
KW  - psychology
KW  - goals
        ER  -