The value of useless information
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- dc.contributor.author Alaoui, Larbica
- dc.contributor.other Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Departament d'Economia i Empresa
- dc.date.accessioned 2017-07-26T12:07:52Z
- dc.date.available 2017-07-26T12:07:52Z
- dc.date.issued 2012-04-01
- dc.date.modified 2017-07-23T02:14:18Z
- dc.description.abstract There are many situations in which individuals have a choice of whether or not to observe eventual outcomes. In these instances, individuals often prefer to remain ignorant. These contexts are outside the scope of analysis of the standard von Neumann-Morgenstern (vNM) expected utility model, which does not distinguish between lotteries for which the agent sees the final outcome and those for which he does not. I develop a simple model that admits preferences for making an observation or for remaining in doubt. I then use this model to analyze the connection between preferences of this nature and risk-attitude. This framework accommodates a wide array of behavioral patterns that violate the vNM model, and that may not seem related, prima facie. For instance, it admits self-handicapping, in which an agent chooses to impair his own performance. It also accommodates a status quo bias without having recourse to framing effects, or to an explicit definition of reference points. In a political economy context, voters have strict incentives to shield themselves from information. In settings with other-regarding preferences, this model predicts observed behavior that seems inconsistent with either altruism or self-interested behavior.
- dc.format.mimetype application/pdfca
- dc.identifier https://econ-papers.upf.edu/ca/paper.php?id=1313
- dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10230/19861
- dc.language.iso eng
- dc.relation.ispartofseries 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.accessRights info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
- dc.rights.uri http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/
- dc.subject.keyword value of information
- dc.subject.keyword uncertainty
- dc.subject.keyword recursive utility
- dc.subject.keyword doubt
- dc.subject.keyword unobserved outcomes
- dc.subject.keyword unresolved lotteries
- dc.subject.keyword Behavioral and Experimental Economics
- dc.subject.keyword Microeconomics
- dc.title The value of useless informationca
- dc.type info:eu-repo/semantics/workingPaper