On the Relationship between Cognitive Ability and Risk Preference

Thomas Dohmen, Armin Falk, David Huffman and Uwe Sunde

Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2018, vol. 32, issue 2, 115-34

Abstract: This paper will focus on the relationship between cognitive ability and decision-making under risk and uncertainty. Taken as a whole, this research indicates that cognitive ability is associated with risk-taking behavior in various contexts and life domains, including incentivized choices between lotteries in controlled environments, behavior in nonexperimental settings, and self-reported tendency to take risks. One pattern that emerges frequently in these studies is that cognitive ability tends to be positively correlated with avoidance of harmful risky situations, but it tends to be negatively correlated with risk aversion in advantageous situations. We conclude by discussing perspectives for future research, in particular the scope for the development of richer sets of elicitation instruments and measurement across a wider range of concepts.

JEL-codes: D11 D12 D81 G22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
Note: DOI: 10.1257/jep.32.2.115
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (92)

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Working Paper: On the Relationship between Cognitive Ability and Risk Preference (2018)
Working Paper: On the Relationship Between Cognitive Ability and Risk Preference (2018)
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