American Economic Review
ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)
Information Choice Technologies
American Economic Review
vol. 102,
no. 3, May 2012
(pp. 35–40)
Abstract
Theories based on information costs or frictions have become increasing popular in macroeconomics and macro-finance. The literature has used various types of information choices, such as rational inattention, inattentiveness, information markets and costly precision. Using a unified framework, we compare these different information choice technologies and explain why some generate increasing returns and others, particularly those where agents choose how much public information to observe, generate multiple equilibria. The results can help applied theorists to choose the appropriate information choice technology for their application and to understand the consequences of that modeling choice.Citation
Hellwig, Christian, Sebastian Kohls, and Laura Veldkamp. 2012. "Information Choice Technologies." American Economic Review, 102 (3): 35–40. DOI: 10.1257/aer.102.3.35JEL Classification
- D83 Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief
- D11 Consumer Economics: Theory
- D81 Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty