Economics, Literature and Scepticism

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I am a PhD student in Economics. I am originally from South Africa and plan to return there after my PhD. I completed my M. Comm in Economics and my MA In Creative Writing (Poetry) at the University of Cape Town, where I worked as a lecturer before starting my PhD.

Thursday, January 08, 2009

To Potential Co-authors

Posted by Simon Halliday | Thursday, January 08, 2009 | Category: |

What do you think of this?
David Laibson knows that when he procrastinates, mere deadlines are not
always enough to get him going. So, when this Harvard economics
professor collaborates on a major project, he'll sometimes promise to
deliver a finished product by a certain date -- or else pay his
co-authors $500.
Article here.  HT: Nudges.

I think this is a fantastic idea.  I think, though, that there should be an escape clause for genuine family emergencies, but otherwise it's a great idea.  Potential co-authors take note.

Aside: How might I pre-commit to committing to this when I write papers? Would this be a good signal for potential co-authors? Interesting DPV and hyperbolic discounting questions here.

Currently have 2 comments:

  1. This is a great idea... Someone blogger or another also had a $100 bet with himself with his thesis: if he didn't write the required amount of word per day (1000 I think it was), he left a $100 bill on the train...

    I need to do something like this... I love doing research but writing, not so much...

  2. Yes, I know what you mean. I have a term paper due soon, on a subject I don't particularly like and I am nowhere near finished...

    I do look forward to similar things with writing my dissertation though - I think I should make an agreement with someone to give money to something I distinctly dislike, like some fund or something, maybe "Finish X or give R500 to Ann Coulter."