Distrust in Experts and the Origins of Disagreement

Alice Hsiaw and Ing-Haw Cheng

No 110R2, Working Papers from Brandeis University, Department of Economics and International Business School

Abstract: Disagreements about substance and expert credibility often go hand-in-hand and are hard to resolve on several issues including economics, climate science, and medicine. We argue that disagreement arises because individuals overinterpret how much they can learn when both substance and credibility are uncertain. Our learning bias predicts that: 1) Disagreement about credibility drives disagreement about substance, 2) First impressions of credibility drive long-lasting disagreement, 3) Under-trust is difficult to unravel, 4) Encountering experts in different order generates disagreement, and 5) Confirmation bias and/or its opposite arise endogenously. These effects provide a theory for the origins of disagreement.

Keywords: disagreement; polarization; learning; expectations; experts (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 60 pages
Date: 2016-10, Revised 2017-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hpe, nep-mic and nep-soc
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Distrust in experts and the origins of disagreement (2022)
Working Paper: Distrust in Experts and the Origins of Disagreement (2018)
Working Paper: Distrust in Experts and the Origins of Disagreement (2016)
Working Paper: Distrust in Experts and the Origins of Disagreement (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:brd:wpaper:110r2

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