TY - JOUR

T1 - Deadlines and Memory Limitations

AU - Altmann, Steffen

AU - Traxler, Christian

AU - Weinschenk, Philipp

N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods and the Volkswagen Foundation (Schumpeter Fellowship “Understanding Default Effects”). The authors would like to express their gratitude to Ulf Jüptner and his team for their invaluable support in conducting the field experiments at their clinic. The authors thank Michele Belot, Keith M. Ericson, Kyle Hyndman, David Laibson, Dmitry Taubinsky, Klaus Wälde, and Joachim Winter for valuable comments and suggestions. The paper also benefited from fruitful discussions with seminar and conference participants in Bergamo, Berlin, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Gothenburg, Harvard, Kaiserslautern London, Kiel, Mannheim, Mainz, Marburg, Munich, Prague, Rotterdam, and San Diego. Ann-Kathrin Crede, Nicolas Kaufung, Kyle Ott, and Tom Rauber provided excellent research assistance. An earlier version of this paper was titled “Deadlines and Cognitive Limitations.” Funding Information: History: Accepted by Axel Ockenfels, behavioral economics and decision analysis. Funding: This work was supported by the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods and the Volkswagen Foundation (Schumpeter Fellowship “Understanding Default Effects”). Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2021. 4227. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 INFORMS.

PY - 2022/9

Y1 - 2022/9

N2 - This paper presents the results of two natural field experiments at a dental clinic. Guided by a simple theoretical model, we exogenously vary deadlines and associated rewards for arranging checkup appointments. Our data show strong and systematic effects of deadlines on patients’ behavior. Imposing deadlines induces patients to act earlier and at a persistently higher frequency than without a deadline. We further document that individuals systematically respond to deadlines even if these are not tied to explicit rewards. Several of our findings suggest that individuals’ responses to deadlines are shaped by limitations in memory and attention. Our results illustrate that deadlines can be a powerful management tool to encourage timely task completion and to increase the cost effectiveness of performance-contingent rewards.

AB - This paper presents the results of two natural field experiments at a dental clinic. Guided by a simple theoretical model, we exogenously vary deadlines and associated rewards for arranging checkup appointments. Our data show strong and systematic effects of deadlines on patients’ behavior. Imposing deadlines induces patients to act earlier and at a persistently higher frequency than without a deadline. We further document that individuals systematically respond to deadlines even if these are not tied to explicit rewards. Several of our findings suggest that individuals’ responses to deadlines are shaped by limitations in memory and attention. Our results illustrate that deadlines can be a powerful management tool to encourage timely task completion and to increase the cost effectiveness of performance-contingent rewards.

KW - deadlines

KW - field experiment

KW - limited attention

KW - memory limitations

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85139035521&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1287/mnsc.2021.4227

DO - 10.1287/mnsc.2021.4227

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85139035521

VL - 68

SP - 6733

EP - 6750

JO - Management Science

JF - Management Science

SN - 0025-1909

IS - 9

ER -