Data and Code for: Complexity and Procedural Choice
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) James Banovetz, Brattle Group; Ryan Oprea, UC Santa Barbara
Version: View help for Version V1
| Name | File Type | Size | Last Modified |
|---|---|---|---|
| zip | 01/16/2023 02:59:PM |
Project Citation:
Banovetz, James, and Oprea, Ryan. Data and Code for: Complexity and Procedural Choice. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2023. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2023-04-14. https://doi.org/10.3886/E172904V1
Project Description
Summary:
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We test the core ideas of the ``automata'' approach to bounded rationality, using simple experimental bandit tasks. Optimality requires subjects to use a moderately complex decision procedure, but most subjects in our baseline condition instead use simpler (often suboptimal) procedures that economize on ``states'' in the algorithmic structure of the rule. When we artificially remove the mental costs of tracking states by having the computer track and organize past events, subjects abandon these simpler rules and use maximally complex optimal rules instead. The results thus suggest that the main type of complexity described in the automata literature fundamentally influences behavior.
Funding Sources:
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National Science Foundation (SES-1949366)
Scope of Project
Subject Terms:
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Complexity;
automata;
procedural decision making;
bounded rationality;
bandit problems;
economics experiments
JEL Classification:
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C91 Design of Experiments: Laboratory, Individual
D91 Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
G00 Financial Economics: General
C91 Design of Experiments: Laboratory, Individual
D91 Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
G00 Financial Economics: General
Methodology
Data Source:
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Data was collected on Prolific.
Collection Mode(s):
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web-based survey
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