Agents undertaking economic decisions are exposed to an ever-increasing amount of information sources. This paper investigates how the number of available information sources impacts agents' ability to (i) select reliable sources and (ii) use their content effectively to update their beliefs. To...

This paper tests two explanations for apparent undersaving in lifecycle models: Bounded rationality; and a preference for immediacy. Each was addressed in a separate experimental study. In first study, subjects saved too little initially - providing evidence for bounded rationality - but learned...

We test the hypothesis that strategic interactions foster overconfidence. We experimentally compare an environment where players have an incentive to overstate their own ability to deter competitors, with one where this incentive is removed. We find that overconfidence persists in the former...

We investigate the role of advisers in the transmission of ethically relevant information, a critical aspect of executive decision making in organizations. In our laboratory experiment, advisers are informed about the negative externalities associated with the decision-maker's choices and...

Economic inequality may fuel frustration, possibly leading to anger and antisocial behavior. We experimentally study a situation where only the rich can reduce inequality while the poor can express their discontent by destroying the wealth of a rich counterpart with whom they had no previous...

We experimentally study a situation where only the rich can reduce inequality while the poor can express their discontent by destroying the wealth of a rich counterpart with whom they had no previous interaction. We test whether the emergence of such forms of antisocial behavior depends only on...

In this study, we examine how information provision affects the degree of overconfidence using an online experiment. The 4,210 experimental participants engaged in stock market prediction exercises were asked to evaluate their absolute and relative performance. We conducted a randomized...

Decision-makers commonly avoid information on uncertain social effects of their privately beneficial choices. The dominant theory holds that such "strategic ignorance" is a means to circumvent inner moral conflict while acting self-servingly. In extension of the theory, we hypothesize that time...

Do people anticipate the conditions that enable them to manipulate their beliefs when confronted with unpleasant information? We investigate whether individuals seek out the “cognitive flexibility” needed to distort beliefs in self-serving ways, or instead attempt to constrain it, committing...

This paper explores how an individual can deceive herself in order to acquire a more favorable self-view. I present a theoretical model and a laboratory experiment in which each subject's donation to a charity gets transformed into an ambiguous lottery, i.e., a lottery where the winning...