Models of reference-dependent preferences show that an individual’s utility depends on the difference between the outcome and a “neutral” reference point. Our paper investigates how distance from reference points affects future performance. We find that round numbers and personal bests motivate runners and that missing the goal by a small amount improves future performance. For those who achieve their goal, future performance suffers slightly. In empirical analysis, we use an extensive panel of marathon data, which contains a past running history for every runner in our sample and allows us to estimate runners’ ability and experience.

中文翻译：

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当不及格是一件好事时：过去的表现对改进的影响

参考依赖偏好模型表明，个人的效用取决于结果与“中性”参考点之间的差异。我们的论文调查了与参考点的距离如何影响未来的表现。我们发现整数和个人最好成绩会激励跑步者，而少跑一个目标会提高未来的表现。对于那些实现目标的人，未来的表现会受到轻微影响。在实证分析中，我们使用了大量马拉松数据，其中包含样本中每个跑步者过去的跑步历史，并允许我们估计跑步者的能力和经验。