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dc.contributor | Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Departament d'Economia i Empresa |
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dc.contributor.author | Alaoui, Larbi |
dc.date | 2012-04-01 |
dc.identifier.citation | https://econ-papers.upf.edu/ca/paper.php?id=1313 |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10230/19861 |
dc.description.abstract | There are many situations in which individuals have a choice of whether or notto observe eventual outcomes. In these instances, individuals often prefer to remainignorant. These contexts are outside the scope of analysis of the standard vonNeumann-Morgenstern (vNM) expected utility model, which does not distinguishbetween lotteries for which the agent sees the final outcome and those for which hedoes not. I develop a simple model that admits preferences for making an observationor for remaining in doubt. I then use this model to analyze the connectionbetween preferences of this nature and risk-attitude. This framework accommodatesa wide array of behavioral patterns that violate the vNM model, and thatmay not seem related, prima facie. For instance, it admits self-handicapping, inwhich an agent chooses to impair his own performance. It also accommodatesa status quo bias without having recourse to framing effects, or to an explicitdefinition of reference points. In a political economy context, voters have strictincentives to shield themselves from information. In settings with other-regardingpreferences, this model predicts observed behavior that seems inconsistent witheither altruism or self-interested behavior. |
dc.format | application/pdf |
dc.language.iso | eng |
dc.relation | Economics and Business Working Papers Series; 1313 |
dc.rights | L'accés als continguts d'aquest document queda condicionat a l'acceptació de les condicions d'ús establertes per la següent llicència Creative Commons |
dc.rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
dc.rights | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/ |
dc.subject | value of information |
dc.subject | uncertainty |
dc.subject | recursive utility |
dc.subject | doubt |
dc.subject | unobserved outcomes |
dc.subject | unresolved lotteries |
dc.subject | Behavioral and Experimental Economics |
dc.subject | Microeconomics |
dc.title | The value of useless information |
dc.type | info:eu-repo/semantics/workingPaper |