{"title":"后验可分离信息代价","authors":"Tommaso Denti","doi":"10.1257/aer.20211252","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"We provide testable conditions under which the cost of acquiring information is given by the expected reduction of a measure of uncertainty (e.g., entropy). The assumption, under the name of posterior separability, is nearly universal in the literature of rational inattention; yet, a testable characterization has been lacking. In applications to experimental data, we indicate situations in which posterior separability is—and is not—a compelling assumption for the cost of information; we propose a generalization to address some of its shortcomings. We also show how to identify and estimate nonparametrically the cost of information from observable choice behavior. (JEL C91, D11, D12, D81, D91)","PeriodicalId":48472,"journal":{"name":"American Economic Review","volume":"91 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":10.5000,"publicationDate":"2022-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"34","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Posterior Separable Cost of Information\",\"authors\":\"Tommaso Denti\",\"doi\":\"10.1257/aer.20211252\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"We provide testable conditions under which the cost of acquiring information is given by the expected reduction of a measure of uncertainty (e.g., entropy). The assumption, under the name of posterior separability, is nearly universal in the literature of rational inattention; yet, a testable characterization has been lacking. In applications to experimental data, we indicate situations in which posterior separability is—and is not—a compelling assumption for the cost of information; we propose a generalization to address some of its shortcomings. We also show how to identify and estimate nonparametrically the cost of information from observable choice behavior. (JEL C91, D11, D12, D81, D91)\",\"PeriodicalId\":48472,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"American Economic Review\",\"volume\":\"91 1\",\"pages\":\"\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":10.5000,\"publicationDate\":\"2022-10-01\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"34\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"American Economic Review\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"96\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.20211252\",\"RegionNum\":1,\"RegionCategory\":\"经济学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q1\",\"JCRName\":\"ECONOMICS\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"American Economic Review","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.20211252","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ECONOMICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
We provide testable conditions under which the cost of acquiring information is given by the expected reduction of a measure of uncertainty (e.g., entropy). The assumption, under the name of posterior separability, is nearly universal in the literature of rational inattention; yet, a testable characterization has been lacking. In applications to experimental data, we indicate situations in which posterior separability is—and is not—a compelling assumption for the cost of information; we propose a generalization to address some of its shortcomings. We also show how to identify and estimate nonparametrically the cost of information from observable choice behavior. (JEL C91, D11, D12, D81, D91)
期刊介绍:
The American Economic Review (AER) stands as a prestigious general-interest economics journal. Founded in 1911, it holds the distinction of being one of the nation's oldest and most esteemed scholarly journals in economics. With a commitment to academic excellence, the AER releases 12 issues annually, featuring articles that span a wide spectrum of economic topics.