ECN 204 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Church Attendance
11 May 2016
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Document Summary
Habitual behaviour: a positive relationship between past and current consumption. Another way of looking at it is that past and current consumption are compliments. Examples of habits: using heroin, jogging, attending religious institutions (church) Example of complementarity between current and past consumption: the more i smoked in the past, the more i enjoy smoking now. Habits are harmful if present consumption lowers future satisfaction. Example: smoking now will mean deteriorating health and a shorter life in the future. Habits are beneficial if greater present consumption raises future utility: examples: regular physical exercise, church attendance. Very strong habits more likely to be harmful than beneficial. A persistence of a habit requires that past consumption raises the satisfaction of present consumption. Listening to a song in the past, brings you pleasure now. Past and behaviour: habits and preferences formed during childhood can persist a lifetime. i. e. brushing your teeth. Bad habits learned in childhood can also persist a lifetime.
