Economics of Addiction

Economics of Addiction

The essay is suppose to be a brief summary about the paper that I will attached called “Toward a Behavioral Economic Understanding of Drug

Dependence: Delay Discounting Processes” by Bickel, W.K. and L. A. Marsch.

CONCEPTUALIZING ADDICTION Toward a behavioral economic understanding of drug dependence: delay discounting processes WARREN K. BICKEL & LISA A. MARSCH University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry, Burlington, VT, USA Abstract Behavioral economics examines conditions that in uence the consumption of commodities and provides several concepts that may be instrumental in understanding drug dependence. One such concept of signiŽ cance is that of how delayed reinforcers are discounted by drug dependent individuals. Discounting of delayed reinforcers refers to the observation that the value of a delayed reinforcer is discounted (reduced in value or considered to be worth less) compared to the value of an immediate reinforcer. This paper examines how delay discounting may provide an explanation of both impulsivity and loss of control exhibited by the drug dependent. In so doing, the paper reviews economic models of delay discounting, the empirical literature on the discounting of delayed reinforcers by the drug dependent and the scientiŽ c literature on personality assessments of impulsivity among drug-dependent individuals. Finally, future directions for the study of discounting are discussed, including the study of loss of control and loss aversion among drug-dependent individuals, the relationship of discounting to both the behavioral economic measure of elasticity as well as to outcomes observed in clinical settings, and the relat