Speed, Quality, and the Optimal Timing of Complex Decisions: Field Evidence

Uwe Sunde, Dainis Zegners and Anthony Strittmatter

No 9546, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: This paper presents an empirical investigation of the relation between decision speed and decision quality for a real-world setting of cognitively-demanding decisions in which the timing of decisions is endogenous: professional chess. Move-by-move data provide exceptionally detailed and precise information about decision times and decision quality, based on a comparison of actual decisions to a computational benchmark of best moves constructed using the artificial intelligence of a chess engine. The results reveal that faster decisions are associated with better performance. The findings are consistent with the predictions of procedural decision models like drift-diffusion-models in which decision makers sequentially acquire information about decision alternatives with uncertain valuations.

Keywords: response times; speed-performance profile; drift-diffusion model; uncertain evaluations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C70 C80 D01 D90 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cmp and nep-spo
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Speed, Quality, and the Optimal Timing of Complex Decisions: Field Evidence (2022)
Working Paper: Speed, Quality, and the Optimal Timing of Complex Decisions: Field Evidence (2022)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ces:ceswps:_9546

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