跨期选择与决策：理解“跨期”的含义

中文段落：

“跨期”这一词汇在经济学和心理学中经常被提及，它指的是在不同时间点进行的选择和决策。跨期选择涉及权衡当前消费与未来消费之间的关系，以及当前行动对未来结果的影响。这种选择通常涉及到对时间偏好的考量，即人们对于即时满足和未来满足的相对重视程度。

在跨期选择中，人们往往会面临两种不同类型的奖励：一种是即刻可得的较小奖励，另一种是延迟获得但数额较大的奖励。对于大多数人来说，即使延迟奖励的总额更大，他们仍可能倾向于选择即刻奖励，因为即刻的满足感往往比未来的更大奖励更有吸引力。这种偏好即时满足的现象被称为“短视偏见”或“时间不一致性偏好”。

跨期选择的研究不仅对于理解个人和群体的决策行为至关重要，而且对于政策制定和经济规划也有着重要意义。例如，在储蓄和投资决策中，跨期选择涉及到权衡当前的消费与未来的财务安全。在环境政策中，跨期选择则可能涉及权衡当前的经济发展与未来的环境影响。

英文段落：

The term "intertemporal" is frequently mentioned in economics and psychology, referring to choices and decisions made across different time points. Intertemporal choice involves balancing the relationship between current consumption and future consumption, as well as the impact of current actions on future outcomes. This type of choice often involves considerations of time preference, which refers to people's relative valuation of immediate versus delayed gratification.

In intertemporal choice, individuals often face two types of rewards: a smaller reward available immediately or a larger reward available after a delay. For most people, even if the delayed reward is larger in total, they may still tend to choose the immediate reward because the immediate satisfaction is often more appealing than a larger reward in the future. This preference for immediate gratification is known as "myopia" or "time-inconsistent preferences".

The study of intertemporal choice is crucial not only for understanding individual and group decision-making behaviors but also for policy-making and economic planning. For example, in savings and investment decisions, intertemporal choice involves balancing current consumption with future financial security. In environmental policies, intertemporal choice may involve balancing current economic development with future environmental impacts.