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Sequential Sampling by Individuals and Groups: An Experimental Study

delete2025-12-01
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PRE
AI
P
Pëllumb Reshidi *
A
Alessandro Lizzeri
L
Leeat Yariv
W
Wing Suen
DOI:10.1257/aeri.20240055delete
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Abstract

Abstract

En 中文
Many committees-juries, political task forces, etc.-spend time gathering costly information before reaching a decision. We report results from lab experiments focused on such dynamic information-collection processes, as in sequential hypothesis testing. We consider decisions governed by individuals and groups and compare how voting rules affect outcomes. Several insights emerge. First, average decision accuracies approximate those predicted theoretically, but these accuracies decline over time: Participants display nonstationary behavior. Second, groups generate markedly different outcomes than individuals, with majority rule yielding faster and less accurate decisions. In particular, welfare is higher when sequential information is collected in groups using unanimity. (JEL C83, D71, D72, D83)
Keywords:
INFORMATION ACQUISITION
DECISION
DIFFUSION
ACCURACY
SEEKING
SEARCH
SPEED
MODEL
RISK

Journal

A
American Economic Review-Insights
IF:
6.7
Papers:
16
Citations:
0

Organization

State University System of Florida cover
State University System of Florida
Scholars:
12.8W
Papers: 10.9W
Citations: 130
F
florida state university
Scholars:
1.4K
Papers: 683
Citations: 0
N
national taiwan university
Scholars:
6.8K
Papers: 2.7K
Citations: 0
P
princeton university
Scholars:
3.2K
Papers: 1.6K
Citations: 0
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Cited Papers

Cited Papers

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err2020-07-01
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errFreer,Mikhail; Martinelli,César; Wang,Siyu
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Costly information acquisition: Experimental analysis of a boundedly rational model
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errGabaix, Xavier; Laibson, David; Moloche, Guillermo; Weinberg, Stephen
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More Data or Better Data? A Statistical Decision Problem
err2017-02-20
err14
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errDominitz, Jeff; Manski, Charles F.
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Real-Time Search in the Laboratory and the Market
err2011-04-01
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errOAAI
errBrown, Meta; Flinn, Christopher J.; Schotter, Andrew
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THE INTRINSIC VALUE OF DECISION RIGHTS
err2014-12-23
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errOAAI
errBartling, Bjoern; Fehr, Ernst; Herz, Holger
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researcher View more