We present a theory of decisions in which attention to the features of choice options is determined by the decision maker's categorization of the current choice problem in a set of problems she solved in the past. Categorization depends on goal-relevant as well as contextual problem-level...

We present a simple model of asset pricing in which payoff salience drives investors' demand for risky assets. The key implication is that extreme payoffs receive disproportionate weight in the market valuation of assets. The model accounts for several puzzles in finance in an intuitive way,...

We assess, theoretically and empirically, the view that precolonial political institutions shaped the performance of colonial and postcolonial African governments. Using anthropological data, we find a strong positive association between the provision of public goods such as education, health...

How investor expectations move markets and the economyThe collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 caught markets and regulators by surprise. Although the government rushed to rescue other financial institutions from a similar fate after Lehman, it could not prevent the deepest recession in...

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- Introduction -- CHAPTER 1 The Financial Crisis of 2008 -- CHAPTER 2 What Were They Thinking? -- CHAPTER 3 A Neglected Risk Model of the Financial Crisis -- CHAPTER 4 Extrapolation in Financial Markets -- CHAPTER 5 Representativeness and Diagnostic...