Intertemporal Altruism

Most prosocial decisions involve intertemporal trade-offs. Yet , the timing of prosocial utility fiows is ambiguous and bypassed by most models of other-regarding preferences. We study the behavioral implications of the time structure of prosocial utility , leveraging a conceptual distinction between consequence-dated and choice-dated utility fiows. We conduct a high-stakes donation experiment that comprehensively characterizes discounting behavior in self-other tradeoffs and allows us to identify different prosocial motives from their distinct time profiles. Our data can only be explained by a combination of choice- and consequence-dated prosocial utility. Both motives are pervasive and negatively correlated at the individual level. (JELD15, D64, D91, I12, L31)