Abstract
Research in psychology suggests that some individuals are more sensitive to positive than to negative information while others are more sensitive to negative rather than positive information. I take these cognitive positive-negative asymmetries in information processing to a Bayesian decision-theory model and explore its consequences in terms of decisions and payoffs. I show that in monotone decision problems economic agents with more positive-responsive information structures are always better off, ex ante, when they face problems where payoffs are relatively more sensitive to the action chosen when the state of nature is favorable.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 317-343 |
Number of pages | 27 |
Journal | Theory And Decision |
Volume | 66 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Apr 2009 |
Keywords
- Decision theory
- Information processing