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. 2022 Jul 6;46(1):51-66.
doi: 10.1007/s40614-022-00349-8. eCollection 2023 Mar.

Time Cost and Demand: Implications for Public Policy

Lindsay P Schwartz  1 , Steven R Hursh  1   2
Affiliations

Time Cost and Demand: Implications for Public Policy

Lindsay P Schwartz et al. Perspect Behav Sci. .

Abstract

The success of policy involves not only good design but a good understanding of how the public will respond behaviorally to the benefits or detriments of that policy. Behavioral science has greatly contributed to how we understand the impact of monetary costs on behavior and has therefore contributed to policy design. Consumption taxes are a direct result of this; for example, cigarette taxes that aim to reduce cigarette consumption. In addition to monetary costs, time may also be conceptualized as a constraint on consumption. Time costs may therefore have policy implications, for example, long waiting times could deter people from accessing certain benefits. Recent data show that behavioral economic demand curve methods used to understand monetary cost may also be used to understand time costs. In this article we discuss how the impact of time cost can be conceptualized as a constraint on demand for public benefits utilization and public health when there are delays to receiving the benefits. Policy examples in which time costs may be relevant and demand curve methods may be useful are discussed in the areas of government benefits, public health, and transportation design.

Keywords: Behavioral economics; Demand curve analysis; Policy; Time costs.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of InterestThe authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
An example of two demand curves plotted in the typical log–log coordinate space. Note. The maximal level of demand with zero constraint is Q0 and defines demand amplitude. The rate of change in slope (elasticity) is captured in the rate constant of the exponential demand model, α. The upper curve is relatively insensitive to increasing cost and has a smaller α = 0.0005 compared to the lower curve that is relatively more sensitive to increasing cost and a larger α = 0.005
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
a Group demand curves for six commodities using monetary costs. b Group Demand curves for six commodities using time costs
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Unit elasticity measures for each commodity using time-cost demand
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Demand curves for food with time-cost fit with the ZBEn model (left panel) and the ZBEn model modified with a time perception parameter (right panel)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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