Do money-earning time and money-exchanging route matter?

This article explores whether the route via which the money form is changed (i.e., money-cash-money versus money-token-money) and the timing at which the money is earned (i.e., before performance versus after performance) play a role in influencing people's willingness to part with money. Two studies, with 125 and 253 subjects, respectively, showed that the route indeed had an effect on the spendability of the dollar in hand and that the timing of earning did affect the proclivity to spend the earned money. These results add to a growing body of evidence for the possible violation of the fundamental economic assumption of fungibility. (C) 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.