Ambiguity Seeking as a Result of the Status Quo Bias

Mercè Roca and A. John Maule
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Robin Miles Hogarth (robin.hogarth@upf.edu)

No 114, Working Papers from Barcelona School of Economics

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: uncertainty; ambiguity; risk; status quo bias; decision making (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 D81 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015-09
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Ambiguity seeking as a result of the status quo bias (2006)
Working Paper: Ambiguity seeking as a result of the status quo bias (2006)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bge:wpaper:114

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