Essays on Behavioral Economics and Sophisticated Procrastination

Abstract

Procrastination is a widespread yet complex behavior that resists simple explanation. This dissertation integrates theoretical modeling with experimental evidence to examine procrastination through the lens of sophisticated decision-making. It reframes procrastination not merely as a deviation from rationality, but as a behavior shaped by strategic trade-offs, self-awareness, and individual heterogeneity. The first essay develops a theoretical model of Perfectionistic Procrastination, proposing that individuals with high internal standards may delay tasks not as a simple lapse in self-control, but as a strategic response to the anticipated costs of sustained effort. In this framework, deadlines act as external constraints that help perfectionists limit open-ended striving and bring tasks to completion. An accompanying experiment tests the model’s prediction and finds that perfectionists are more likely to prefer deadlines. These results suggest that, in some cases, procrastination may reflect a structured strategy rather than a purely irrational failure of self-control. The second essay explores the phenomenon of Sophisticated Procrastination, challenging traditional models that attribute procrastination to naïveté. Instead, it proposes that even individuals who are aware of their tendency to delay may struggle to act on that awareness. Two experimental studies using a menu-choice framework examine how people choose task timings. In Study 1, participants preferred earlier deadlines when flexibility was available but shifted toward later options when required to commit, revealing a gap between intention and action. Study 2 identified diverse patterns of deadline preferences: while many participants actively avoided the latest possible deadline, their hesitation to commit to any specific deadline suggests a deeper tension rooted in uncertainty or discomfort with commitment. These findings provide early empirical support for Sophisticated Procrastination, indicating that self-awareness alone may not be sufficient to overcome procrastination. The third essay introduces the idea of Prosocial Procrastination, describing the tendency to delay tasks that benefit others, such as charitable activities, more than those with self-interested outcomes. Using two distinct experimental designs, one based on conjoint analysis and the other on single-attribute choice, the studies show that individuals are more likely to prefer longer deadlines when working for a charity than when working for themselves. These findings offer suggestive evidence for Prosocial Procrastination and contribute to the growing literature on the intersection of social preferences and time preferences.