This paper provides an explanation for why the sunk cost bias persists among firms in a competitive environment in which rich learning possibilities are allowed. We envision firms that experiment with cost methodologies that are consistent with real-world accounting practices, including ones...

Compensation contracts have been criticized for encouraging managers to manipulate information. This includes bonus schemes that encourage earnings smoothing, and option packages that allow managers to cash out early when the firm is overvalued. We show that the intransparency induced by these...

This paper provides an explanation for why the sunk cost bias persists among firms competing in a differentiated product oligopoly. Firms experiment with cost methodologies that are consistent with real-world accounting practices, including ones that allocate fixed and sunk costs to determine...