Time is knowledge: what response times reveal

Jean-Michel Benkert, Shuo Liu and Nick Netzer

No 449, ECON - Working Papers from Department of Economics - University of Zurich

Abstract: Response times contain information about economically relevant but unobserved variables like willingness to pay, preference intensity, quality, or happiness. We provide a general characterization of the properties of latent variables that can be detected using response time data. Our theoretical framework unifies and generalizes results in the literature and gives rise to many new applications. We illustrate the rich insights that the method can deliver through several empirical applications: revealed preference analysis, identifying an optimal nudge, testing decreasing marginal happiness of income, and predicting treatment heterogeneity.

Keywords: Chronometric effect; binary response model; non-parametric identification; revealed preference; nudging; decreasing marginal happiness; treatment heterogeneity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C14 D60 D91 I31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024-08, Revised 2026-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dcm, nep-ecm and nep-knm
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Working Paper: Time is Knowledge: What Response Times Reveal (2026)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zur:econwp:449

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