The benefits of being misinformed - HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Pré-publication, Document de travail Année : 2021

The benefits of being misinformed

Marcus Roel
  • Fonction : Auteur
  • PersonId : 1091251
Manuel Staab
  • Fonction : Auteur
  • PersonId : 1091252

Résumé

In the spirit of Blackwell (1951), we analyze how two fundamental mistakes in information processing-incorrect beliefs about the world and misperception of information-affect the expected utility ranking of information experiments. We explore their individual and combined influence on welfare and provide necessary and sufficient conditions when mistakes alter and possibly reverse the ranking of information experiments. Both mistakes by themselves reduce welfare in a model where payoff relevant actions also generate informative signals. This is true for naive decisionmakers, unaware of any errors, as well as for sophisticated decision-makers, who account for the possibility of mistakes. However, mistakes can interact in non-obvious ways and an agent might be better off suffering from both, rather than just one. We provide a characterization when such positive interactions are possible. Surprisingly, this holds true only for naive decision-makers and thus naivete can be beneficial. We discuss implications for information acquisition and avoidance, welfare-improving belief manipulation, and policy interventions in general.
Fichier principal
Vignette du fichier
WP 2021 - Nr 08.pdf ( 385.09 Ko ) Télécharger
Origine : Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s)
Loading...

Dates et versions

halshs-03145270, version 1 (18-02-2021)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : halshs-03145270 , version 1

Citer

Marcus Roel, Manuel Staab. The benefits of being misinformed. 2021. ⟨halshs-03145270⟩
58 Consultations
99 Téléchargements
Dernière date de mise à jour le 05/05/2024
comment ces indicateurs sont-ils produits

Partager

Gmail Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Plus