Paper #882

Título:

Ambiguity seeking as a result of the status quo bias

Autores:

Mercè Roca, Robin Hogarth y A. John Maule

Data:

Septiembre 2005

Resumen:

Several factors affect attitudes toward ambiguity. What happens, however, when people are asked to exchange an ambiguous alternative in their possession for an unambiguous one? We present three experiments in which individuals preferred to retain the former. This status quo bias emerged both within- and between-subjects, with and without incentives, with different outcome distributions, and with endowments determined by both the experimenter and the participants themselves. Findings emphasize the need to account for the frames of reference under which evaluations of probabilistic information take place as well as modifications that should be incorporated into descriptive models of decision making.

Palabras clave:

Ambiguity, risk, status quo bias, decision making, uncertainty, Leex

Códigos JEL:

C91, D81

Área de investigación:

Economía Experimental y del Comportamiento

Publicado en:

Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Volume 32, Number 3, May 2006, pp. 175-194

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