Procrastination on long-term projects

We investigate naive procrastination on projects with multiple stages. In addition to classic procrastination in starting projects, naive people might undertake costly effort to begin projects but then never finish. Procrastination is more likely when the costs of completing different stages are more unequal, and it is when later stages are more costly that people start but do not finish projects. Moreover, if the cost structure is endogenous, people are prone to choose cost structures that lead them to start but not finish projects. Some extensions further illustrate how people may incur costs on projects they never complete.