Conferences at Department of Economics, University of Toronto, Canadian Economic Theory Conference 2013

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No two experiments are identical: an experiment

larry g epstein*, yoram halevy

Last modified: 2013-04-15

Abstract


We study choice between bets on the colors of two balls, where one ball is drawn from each of two urns. Though you are told the same about each urn, you are told very little, so that you are not given any reason to be certain that the compositions are identical. Neither are you given any reason for believing that the urn compositions are unrelated or related in any particular way. There is an obvious parallel with the usual Ellsberg experiments where bets are typically on the color drawn from a single urn, and where you are told little about its composition. There it has been shown that for many people the lack of information is reflected in choice. We explore the corresponding question here, where there is another dimension - the relation between urns' compositions - in which information is lacking.