DO PROFESSIONALS GET IT RIGHT? LIMITED ATTENTION AND RISK-TAKING BEHAVIOUR

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Foellmi, Reto; Legge, Stefan; Schmid, Lukas
• 署名单位: University of St Gallen; Centre for Economic Policy Research - UK
• 刊物名称: ECONOMIC JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0013-0133
• DOI: 10.1111/ecoj.12375
• 发表日期: 2016
• 页码: 724-755
• 关键词: information suppression; shrouded attributes; market experience; SALIENCE; MODEL; determinants; preferences; ECONOMICS; pressure; thinking

摘要

Does information processing affect individual risk-taking behaviour? This article provides evidence that professional athletes suffer from a left-digit bias when dealing with signals about differences in performance. Using data from the highly competitive field of World Cup alpine skiing for the period of 1992-2014, we show that athletes misinterpret actual differences in race times by focusing on the leftmost digit, which results in increased risk-taking behaviour. For the estimation of causal effects, we exploit the fact that tiny time differences can be attributed to random shocks. We find no evidence that high-stakes situations or individual experience reduce the left-digit bias.