Goods and services vary along a number of dimensions independently. Customers can choose to acquire information to assess the quality of some dimensions and not others. Their choices affect firms' incentives to invest in quality and so lead to indirect externalities in consumers' choices. We...

This paper experimentally investigates structured investment decision-making with sequential information provision. Subjects were asked to rank investment alternatives using a scoring model. A mixed design with information provision as the within-subject variable and initial information load as...

I consider a situation, where the agent can acquire payoff-relevant information either before or after the contract is signed. To raise efficiency, the principal might solicit information; to retain all surplus, however, she must prevent precontractual information gathering. The following class...

We review methodological questions relevant for the design of information provision experiments. We first provide a literature review of major areas in which information provision experiments are applied. We then outline key measurement challenges and design recommendations that may be of help...

This paper presents a general framework for constructing and solving the multivariate static linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) rational inattention tracking problem. We interpret the nature of the solution and the implied action of the agent, and we construct representations that formalize how the...

We review the emerging literature on information acquisition in field settings. We first document an increase in studies on information acquisition and review relevant studies in different subfields of economics, including macroeconomics, political economy, labor economics, health economics, and...

This paper is concerned with the role of committees in collective decision-making processes in a world where agents must be motivated to collect information. Committees improve the quality of decision-making by providing information and by coordinating the collection of information. We address...

We analyze a social learning model where the agents' utility depends not only on an unknown common component but also on an unknown idiosyncratic component. Each agent splits a learning budget between the two components. We characterize the optimal learning decisions and find necessary and...

We develop a growth model that features the endogenous two-tier innovations of information carrier technology and production technology. Information carrier technology promotes production technology innovation and thus economic growth through improving the preservation and dissemination of...

Despite a vast theoretical literature that builds on costly information acquisition, there is no direct evidence on the importance of information costs in investors’ private information choices. Using a large sample of Chinese mutual fund managers’ visits to firm headquarters and exploiting...