Deciding for Others Reduces Loss Aversion

Autor(en)
Ola Andersson, Hakan Holm, Jean-Robert Tyran, Erik Wengström
Abstrakt

We study risk taking on behalf of others, both when choices involve losses and when they do not. A large-scale incentivized experiment with subjects randomly drawn from the Danish population is conducted. We find that deciding for others reduces loss aversion. When choosing between risky prospects for which losses are ruled out by design, subjects make the same choices for themselves as for others. In contrast, when losses are possible, we find that the two types of choices differ. In particular, we find that subjects who make choices for themselves take less risk than those who decide for others when losses loom. This finding is consistent with an interpretation of loss aversion as a bias in decision making driven by emotions and that these emotions are reduced when making decisions for others.

Organisation(en)
Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre, Wiener Zentrum für Experimentelle Wirtschaftsforschung
Externe Organisation(en)
Lund University, University of Copenhagen, Research Institute of Industrial Economics
Journal
Management Science
Band
62
Seiten
29-36
Anzahl der Seiten
8
ISSN
0025-1909
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2014.2085
Publikationsdatum
12-2014
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ÖFOS 2012
502045 Verhaltensökonomie
Schlagwörter
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Strategy and Management, Management Science and Operations Research
Link zum Portal
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/de/publications/deciding-for-others-reduces-loss-aversion(727a1be0-eb3f-4d73-aa10-16122dcdd048).html