Who Is (More) Rational?

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Choi, Syngjoo; Kariv, Shachar; Mueller, Wieland; Silverman, Dan
• 署名单位: University of London; University College London; University of California System; University of California Berkeley; University of Vienna; University of Vienna; Tilburg University; Tilburg University; Arizona State University; Arizona State University-Tempe; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0002-8282
• DOI: 10.1257/aer.104.6.1518
• 发表日期: 2014
• 页码: 1518-1550
• 关键词: financial decision-making; risk-aversion; revealed preference; stochastic-dominance; cognitive function; JOB-PERFORMANCE; retirement; plan; paternalism; selection

摘要

Revealed preference theory offers a criterion for decision-making quality: if decisions are high quality then there exists a utility function the choices maximize. We conduct a large-scale experiment to test for consistency with utility maximization. Consistency scores vary markedly within and across socioeconomic groups. In particular, consistency is strongly related to wealth: A standard deviation increase in consistency is associated with 15-19 percent more household wealth. This association is quantitatively robust to conditioning on correlates of unobserved constraints, preferences, and beliefs. Consistency with utility maximization under laboratory conditions thus captures decision-making ability that applies across domains and influences important real-world outcomes.