photo Harvard University - Economics Department

David Laibson

David Laibson's Published Work

  1. John, Beshears, James Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte Madrian. How Are Preferences Revealed? forthcoming Journal of Public Economics.

  2. John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Bridgitte C. Madrian, and Brian Weller (forthcoming) "Public Policy and Saving for Retirement: The "Autosave" Features of the Pension Protection Act of 2006" in Better Living Through Economics.

  3. Christopher Chabris, David Laibson, and Jonathan Schuldt (2008) "Intertemporal Choice," in Palgrave Dictionary of Economics.

  4. Xavier Gabaix and David Laibson (2008) "The Seven Properties of Good Models" in eds Andrew Caplin and Andrew Schotter The Methodologies of Modern Economics: Foundations of Positive and Normative Economics, Oxford University Press.

  5. Beshears, John, James Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte Madrian (forthcoming). "The Impact of Employer Matching on Savings Plan Participation under Automatic Enrollment" in David A. Wise, editor, Research Findings in the Economics of Aging. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

  6. Choi, James, David Laibson, and Brigitte Madrian (forthcoming). “ Reducing the Complexity Costs of 401(k) Participation Through Quick Enrollmenttm” in David A. Wise, ed., Developments in the Economics of Aging. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

  7. Beshears, John, James Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte Madrian (2008). "The Importance of Default Options for Retirement Saving Outcomes: Evidence from the United States" In Stephen J. Kay and Tapen Sinha, editors, Lessons from Pension Reform in the Americas, pp. 59-87. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  8. Benjamin, Daniel J., Christopher F. Chabris, Edward L. Glaeser, Vilmundur Gudnason, Tamara B. Harris, David I. Laibson, Lenore Launer, and Shaun Purcell (2007) "Genoeconomics." in eds. Maxine Weinstein, James W. Vaupel, and Kenneth W. Wachter, Biosocial Surveys, National Research Council of the National Academies.

  9. Gregory S. Berns, David Laibson, and George Loewenstein (2007) "Intertemporal choice – toward an integrative framework," Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 11(11), pp. 482-8.

  10. McClure, Sam, Keith Ericson, David Laibson, George Loewenstein, and Jonathan Cohen (2007) "Time Discounting for Primary Rewards." Journal of Neuroscience., 27: 5796–5804.

  11. Xavier Gabaix, David Laibson, Guillermo Moloche and Stephen Weinberg (2006). “Costly Information Acquisition: Experimental Analysis of a Boundedly Rational Model,” American Economic Review, vol. 96 (4), pp. 1043-1068.

  12. James Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte Madrian, and Andrew Metrick (2006) “ Saving for Retirement on the Path of Least Resistance,” in Ed McCaffrey and Joel Slemrod, eds., Behavioral Public Finance: Toward a New Agenda New York: Russell Sage Foundation, pp. 304-351.

  13. Xavier Gabaix and David Laibson. (2006) “Shrouded Attributes, Consumer Myopia, and Information Suppression in Competitive Markets.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 121 (2), pp. 505-540.

  14. James Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian (2005) “Are Empowerment and Education Enough? Under-Diversification in 401(k) Plans” Brookings Papers on Economic Activity Volume 2, pp. 151-198.

  15. James Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte Madrian, and Andrew Metrick (2005) “Passive Decisions and Potent Defaults.” In David Wise, ed., Analyses in the Economics of Aging. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, pp. 59-78.

  16. John Beshears, James Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte Madrian (2005). “Early Decisions: A Regulatory Framework" Swedish Economic Policy Review 12(2), pp. 41-60.

  17. Samuel M. McClure, David Laibson, George Loewenstein and Jonathan D. Cohen (2004), “Separate Neural Systems Value Immediate and Delayed Monetary Rewards” Science 306, October 15.

  18. James Choi, David Laibson, and Brigitte C. Madrian (2004) “Plan Design and 401(k) Savings Outcomes,” National Tax Journal, 57(2), pp. 275-98. [Summarized in October 2004 NBER Digest.]

  19. James Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte Madrian, and Andrew Metrick (2004) “For Better or For Worse: Default Effects and 401(k) Savings Behavior” in David Wise editor Perspectives in the Economics of Aging. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2004, pp. 81-121. [Summarized in April 2002 NBER Digest]

  20. James Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte Madrian, and Andrew Metrick (2004) “Employee Investment Decisions about Company Stock,” in Olivia Mitchell and Steven Utkus, eds., Pension Design and Structure: New Lessons from Behavioral Finance, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 121-136.

  21. James Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte Madrian, and Andrew Metrick (2003) “Optimal Defaults” American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, 93, May, pp. 180-185.

  22. Xavier Gabaix and David Laibson (2003) “A new challenge for economics: the frame problem” I. Broca and J. Carillo eds., Collected Essays in Psychology and Economics, Oxford University Press.

  23. David Laibson, Andrea Repetto and Jeremy Tobacman (2003) “A Debt Puzzle” in eds. Philippe Aghion, Roman Frydman, Joseph Stiglitz, Michael Woodford, Knowledge, Information, and Expectations in Modern Economics: In Honor of Edmund S. Phelps, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 228-266.

  24. David Laibson (2003) “Intertemporal Decision Making.”Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science, Nature Publishing Group: London.

  25. Edward L. Glaeser, David Laibson, and Bruce Sacerdote (2002) “The Economic Approach to Social Capital” Economic Journal,

  26. Christopher J. Harris and David Laibson (2002) “Hyperbolic discounting and consumption,” in eds. Mathias Dewatripont, Lars Peter Hansen, and Stephen Turnovsky, Advances in Economics and Econometrics: Theory and Applications, Eighth World Congress, Volume 1, pp. 258-298.

  27. James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte Madrian, and Andrew Metrick (2002). “Defined Contribution Pensions: Plan Rules, Participant Decisions, and the Path of Least Resistance” in ed. James Poterba, Tax Policy and the Economy, 16, pp. 67-114. [Summarized in April 2002 NBER Digest]

  28. James Choi, David Laibson and Andrew Metrick (2002). “How does the Internet Affect Trading? Evidence from Investor Behavior in 401(k) Plans.” Journal of Financial Economics, 64(3), pp. 397-421. [Summarized in February 2001 NBER Digest]

  29. Xavier Gabaix and David Laibson (2002) “The 6D Bias and the Equity Premium Puzzle” NBER Macroeconomics Annual, vol. 16, pp. 257-311.

  30. Christopher Harris and David Laibson (2001) “Dynamic Choices of Hyperbolic Consumers”Econometrica, 69(4), pp. 935-957.

  31. George-Marios Angeletos, David Laibson, Andrea Repetto, Jeremy Tobacman, and Stephen Weinberg (2001),“The Hyperbolic Consumption Model: Calibration, Simulation, and Empirical Evaluation” Journal of Economic Perspectives, August, pp. 47-68. [Reprinted in G. Loewenstein ed. volume on Intertemporal Choice, Russell Sage Foundation.]

  32. David Laibson (2001) “A Cue-Theory of Consumption,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 66(1), pp. 81-120.

  33. Xavier Gabaix and David Laibson (2000) “A Boundedly Rational Decision Algorithm” American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, 90, 433-438.

  34. Edward Glaeser, David Laibson, Jose Scheinkman, and Christine Soutter (2000) “Measuring Trust” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 65, pp. 811-846.

  35. Maureen Cropper and David Laibson (1999) “The Implications of Hyperbolic Discounting for Project Evaluation” in eds. John Weyant and Paul R. Portney Discounting and Intergenerational Equity, Washington: Resources for the Future.

  36. David Laibson, Andrea Repetto and Jeremy Tobacman (1998) “Self-Control and Saving for Retirement” Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, No. 1, 91-196. [Reprinted in Social Security Reform: Financial and Political Issues in International Perspective , edited by Robin Brooks and Assaf Razin, Cambridge University Press, 2005.]

  37. David Laibson and Richard Zeckhauser (1998) “Amos Tversky and the Ascent of Behavioral Economics” Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 16, 7-47.

  38. David Laibson (1998) “Life-cycle Consumption and Hyperbolic Discount Functions,” European Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, 42, 861-871.

  39. David Laibson (1997) “Golden Eggs and Hyperbolic Discounting,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 62, May, pp. 443-77.

  40. Benjamin M. Friedman and David Laibson (1989) “Economic Implications of Extraordinary Movements in Stock Prices” Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, December, 137-72.

Edited Volume

Howard Rachlin and David Laibson eds. The Matching Law: Papers on Psychology and Economics by Richard Herrnstein Harvard University Press, 1997.

Published Comments

(please email if you want a copy of these comments)

1.Comment on Michael Hurd and James Smith’s chapter, “Anticipated and Actual Bequests” In D. Wise ed., Themes in the Economics of Aging, National Bureau of Economic Research: Cambridge, MA, 2001.

2.“Are we saving enough?” comment in Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, No. 2, 1999, 174-77.

3.“Undersaving?” comment in NBER Macroannual, 1999, 370-374.

4.“Choice Bracketing,” comment in Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 19, 1999, 201-2.

5.“Psychological perspectives on 401K's,” comment in Frontiers in the Economics of Aging, edited by David Wise, NBER and University of Chicago Press, 1998, 106-120.

6.“An Economic Perspective on Addiction and Matching.” comment in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 19:4, 1996, 583-584.
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