Information Transmission in Groups: Peer Influence in High-Stakes, Irreversible Financial Decisions

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Ahn, Tom; Cunha, Jesse M.; Veith, Patrick
• 署名单位: United States Department of Defense; United States Navy; Naval Postgraduate School
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_01426
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: military; mechanisms; personnel; matter

摘要

We study the influence of workplace peers on ahigh-stakes, irreversible retirement plan choice. Midcareer U.S. military personnel choose between higher future pension payouts or an immediate bonus plus lower future payouts. With peers defined as those who have locked in their choices and personnel assignment rules ensuring that peer groups are exogenously formed, we capture the causal impact of peers. Greater peer take-up of the bonus, which is difficult to compare to the alternative plan but often extremely costly over one's lifetime, discourages choosers from selecting the bonus. Peers have special impact within professional, race, and gender groups.