Learning by observing the past decisions of others can help explain some otherwise puzzling phenomena about human behavior. For example, why do people tend to converge on similar behavior? Why is mass behavior prone to error and fads? The authors argue that the theory of observational learning,...

An informational cascade occurs when it is optimal for an individual, having observed the actions of those ahead of him, to follow the behavior of the preceding individual without regard to his own information. We argue that localized conformity of behavior and the fragility of mass behaviors...

We show that discrimination can occur even when it is common knowledge that underlying group characteristics do not differ and when employers do not prefer same-group candidates. When employers can judge job applicants' unknown qualities better when candidates belong to the same group and hire...

This paper investigates the role of more action choices in a simple informational cascades (IC) model (Welch (1992), Bikhchandani, Hirshleifer, and Welch (1992)). In the canonical binary signal model with a diffuse prior on the underlying best choice, cascades disappear when agents have...