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This project aims at identifying the contribution of various aspects of identity to the formation of time preferences.

The prudence theory predicts that economic insecurity reduces all consumption expenditures. We question this prediction by estimating the effect of economic insecurity on various expenditure items using an Australian longitudinal data set (HILDA) and panel regressions. Our results confirm that total consumption declines in response to greater economic insecurity and that this decline is greater for those with high risk aversion. However, we observe a clear gradient related to the degree of necessity of goods and services: the more necessary the consumption items, the weaker the effect of insecurity.

Concepts and results from the psychological research on identity may provide better understandingof the formation and dynamics of economic preferences. In this perspective, we propose a French translation of the Aspect of Identity (AIQ-IV) psychometric questionnaire, which measures the orientation of subjective identity along personal, relational, public, and collective dimensions (Cheek and Briggs 1982, 2013). The psychometric validation study checks the internal consistency, as well as the four-dimensional factorial structure, of the questionnaire in a representative sample of French young adults (N=1,118). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of item responses reveal a four-factor structure that corresponds to the personal, relational, public, and collective aspects of identity. Individual responses are found to be stable over time. In addition, while being moderately correlated with related psychological constructs (Self-esteem, Social Self-esteem, Self-consciousness), dimensions of the AIQ also predicts risk, time, and social preferences as measured by Likert scales and hypothetical choices. Cite as Yin, R., & Étilé, F. (2019). Mesurer les orientations de l’identité pour comprendre les préférences. Revue économique, 70(6), 1053-1078.

The objective of this thesis is to contribute to economic literature by analysing three psychological determinants in the way individuals make decisions over time, using approaches and methodologies from economics and psychology. Thus, the first chapter of this thesis theoretically analyses the demand for commitment devices to overcome their own present-bias. This theoretical study is illustrated by a laboratory experiment on weight loss. The second chapter empirically examines the impact of working conditions on individuals’ health behaviours in the light of the psychological literature on self-control. The third chapter proposes a translation and validation of the Aspects of Identity Questionnaire and shows that the economic analysis of individual preferences can benefit from the reintroduction of the subjectivity of personal identity. Finally, the last chapter of this thesis explores the extent to which this subjectivity of personal identity can be important in understanding intertemporal choices.; L’objectif de cette thèse est de contribuer à la littérature en économie en analysant trois déterminants psychologiques dans la manière dont les individus prennent des décisions dans le temps en utilisant des approches et des méthodologies issues de l’économie et de la psychologie. Ainsi, le premier chapitre de cette thèse analyse théoriquement la demande des individus pour des dispositifs d’engagement pour lutter contre leur propre préférence pour le présent. Cette étude théorique est illustrée par une expérience en laboratoire sur la perte de poids. Le deuxième chapitre étudie empiriquement l’impact des conditions de travail sur les comportements de santé des individus à la lumière de la littérature en psychologie sur l’autorégulation. Le troisième chapitre propose une traduction et une validation de l’échelle des aspects de l’identité et montre que l’analyse économique des préférences individuelles peut bénéficier de la ré-introduction de la subjectivité de l’identité personnelle. Enfin, le dernier chapitre de cette thèse explore dans quelle mesure cette subjectivité de l’identité personnelle peut être importante pour comprendre les choix intertemporels.