Procrastination and impatience

•We study the relation between preferences for immediacy (impatience) and procrastination.•Impatience is measured with choices between smaller-sooner and larger-later rewards.•Procrastination is measured by recording how fast participants complete three unrelated tasks.•Impatient individuals are more likely to procrastinate.•Impatient individuals are also likely to make time inconsistent choices.

We use a combination of lab and field evidence to study whether highly-impatient individuals are more likely to procrastinate. To measure impatience, we elicit individual discount rates by giving participants choices between smaller-sooner and larger-later rewards. To measure procrastination, we record how quickly participants complete three tasks: an online game, their application to the university, and a mandatory survey. We find that, consistent with the theory, impatient individuals procrastinate more, but only in tasks where there are costs to delay (the online game and university application). Since we pay participants by check, we are also able to determine whether the participants’ cashing behavior is consistent with the timing of their payment choice. We find substantial evidence of time inconsistency. Namely, more than half of the participants who receive their check straight away instead of waiting 2 weeks for a reasonably larger amount, subsequently take more than 2 weeks to cash it.