When more is less: Limited consideration
Juan Sebastián Lleras, Yusufcan Masatlioglu, Daisuke Nakajima, Erkut Y. Ozbay
,
(
170
)
Journal of Economic Theory
78-85
July
2017
Abstract
There is well-established evidence that decision makers consistently fail to consider all available options. Instead, they restrict attention to only a subset of alternatives and then undertake a more detailed analysis of this reduced set. This systematic lack of consideration of available options can lead to a “more is less” effect, where excess of options can be welfare-reducing for a decision-maker (DM). Building on this idea, we model individuals who might pay attention to only a subset of the choice problem presented to them.