Preferences for Information and Ambiguity
Jian Li*
Last modified: 2014-04-05
Abstract
p, li { white-space: pre-wrap; } This paper studies intrinsic preferences for how information is revealed. We
enrich the standard dynamic choice model in two dimensions. First, we introduce
a novel choice domain that allows preferences to depend on how information is
revealed. Second, conditional on a given information partition, we allow prefer-
ences over state-contingent outcomes to depart from expected utility axioms. In
particular, we accommodate ambiguity sensitive preferences. We establish that a
dynamically consistent decision maker (DM) is averse to partial information if and
only if her static preferences satisfy a property called Event Complementarity. We
show that Event Complementarity is closely related to ambiguity aversion in popular
families of ambiguity preferences.
enrich the standard dynamic choice model in two dimensions. First, we introduce
a novel choice domain that allows preferences to depend on how information is
revealed. Second, conditional on a given information partition, we allow prefer-
ences over state-contingent outcomes to depart from expected utility axioms. In
particular, we accommodate ambiguity sensitive preferences. We establish that a
dynamically consistent decision maker (DM) is averse to partial information if and
only if her static preferences satisfy a property called Event Complementarity. We
show that Event Complementarity is closely related to ambiguity aversion in popular
families of ambiguity preferences.