Testing negative value of information and ambiguity aversion

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Kops, Christopher; Pasichnichenko, Illia
• 署名单位: Maastricht University; University of London; Queen Mary University London
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC THEORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0531
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jet.2023.105730
• 发表日期: 2023
• 关键词: Value of information; Information aversion; ambiguity aversion; Ellsberg urn; dynamic consistency; Complexity avoidance

摘要

The standard Subjective Expected Utility model of decision-making implies that information can never have a negative value ex-ante. Many ambiguity theories have since questioned this property. We provide an experimental test of the connection between the value of information and ambiguity attitude. Our results show that the value of information can indeed be negative when new information renders hedging against ambiguity impossible. Moreover, the value of information is correlated with ambiguity aversion. This confirms the predictions from ambiguity theories and may have implications for decision-making in uncertain and dynamic environments. Neither complexity avoidance nor information with ambiguous reliability can reproduce the results.(c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons .org /licenses /by /4 .0/).