Improving Rationality by Increasing Attention

Hui-Kuan Chung, Nick Doren, Lasse Mononen, Mia Lu, Marcus Grueschow, Helen Hayward Könnecke, Alexander Jetter, Boris B. Quednow, Nick Netzer and Philippe N. Tobler

No 12078, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: Models of limited attention have the potential to become a new unifying paradigm that could replace the rational choice approach. In this paper, we test the limited attention hypothesis by enhancing attention using pharmacological substances. A total of 160 subjects participated in our randomized, placebo-controlled, and double-blind experimental study. We find that enhancing attention through boosting the noradrenergic system with reboxetine improves the quality of choice as captured by multiple different measures of rationality. Eye-tracking suggests that boosting noradrenaline promotes more rational choice by efficiently directing attention to more valuable options. Other attention-enhancing drugs (methylphenidate, which boosts the dopaminergic system, and nicotine, which boosts the cholinergic system) improve rationality to a lesser extent. Aside from testing the limited attention hypothesis directly, our results have implications for welfare economics, policy-design, and public health.

Keywords: limited attention; rationality; pharmacology (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B41 C91 D01 D60 D91 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.ifo.de/DocDL/cesifo1_wp12078.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12078

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Klaus Wohlrabe ().