We review the recent literature on rational inattention, identify the main theoretical mechanisms, and explain how it helps us understand a variety of phenomena across fields of economics. The theory of rational inattention assumes that agents cannot process all available information, but they...

We review the recent literature on rational inattention, identify the main theoretical mechanisms, and explain how it helps us understand a variety of phenomena across fields of economics. The theory of rational inattention assumes that agents cannot process all available information, but they...

Do household in ation expectations affect consumption-savings decisions? We link survey data on quantitative in ation expectations to administrative data on income and wealth. We document that households with higher in ation expectations save less. Estimating panel data models with year and...

We show what the rational inattention model predicts about the treatment effect of information provided during a randomized control trial. This is a non-trivial question because the model implies optimal attention choice before, during, and after an information treatment. The predictions of the...