We argue that “narrow framing,” whereby an agent who is offered a new gamble evaluates that gamble in isolation, may be a more important feature of decisionmaking than previously realized. Our starting point is the evidence that people are often averse to a small, independent gamble, even when the gamble is actuarially favorable. We find that a surprisingly wide range of utility functions, including many nonexpected utility specifications, have trouble explaining this evidence, but that this difficulty can be overcome by allowing for narrow framing. Our analysis makes predictions as to what kinds of preferences can most easily address the stock market participation puzzle. (JEL D81, G11)
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
Volume (Year): 96 (2006) Issue (Month): 4 (September) Pages: 1069-1090 Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML
(with abstract),
plain text
(with abstract),
BibTeX,
RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite),
ReDIF
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Christopher F. Baum).
Related research
Keywords:
References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
Larry Epstein & Martin Schneider, 2006.
"Learning Under Ambiguity,"
RCER Working Papers
527, University of Rochester - Center for Economic Research (RCER).
[Downloadable!]
Other versions:
Larry Epstein & Martin Schneider, 2002.
"Learning Under Ambiguity,"
RCER Working Papers
497, University of Rochester - Center for Economic Research (RCER), revised Mar 2005.
[Downloadable!]
Haliassos, Michael & Bertaut, Carol C, 1995.
"Why Do So Few Hold Stocks?,"
Economic Journal,
Royal Economic Society, vol. 105(432), pages 1110-29, September.
[Downloadable!] (restricted)
Cited by: (explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)