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Ego Utility, Overconfidence, and Task Choice

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Author Info
Botond Köszegi
Abstract

This paper models behavior when a decision maker cares about and manages her self-image. In addition to having preferences over material outcomes, the agent derives “ego utility†from positive views about her ability to do well in a skill-sensitive, “ambitious,†task. Although she uses Bayes' rule to update beliefs, she tends to become overconfident regarding which task is appropriate for her. If tasks are equally informative about ability, her task choice is also overconfident. If the ambitious task is more informative about ability, she might initially display underconfidence in behavior, and, if she is disappointed by her performance, later become too ambitious. People with ego utility prefer to acquire free information in smaller pieces. Applications to employee motivation and other economic settings are discussed. (JEL: D83, D11) Copyright (c) 2006 by the European Economic Association.

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Article provided by MIT Press in its journal Journal of the European Economic Association.

Volume (Year): 4 (2006)
Issue (Month): 4 (06)
Pages: 673-707
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Handle: RePEc:tpr:jeurec:v:4:y:2006:i:4:p:673-707

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  1. Rick Harbaugh, 2005. "Prospect Theory or Skill Signaling?," Working Papers 2005-06, Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, Department of Business Economics and Public Policy. [Downloadable!]
  2. Armin Falk & David Huffman & Uwe Sunde, 2006. "Self-Confidence and Search," IZA Discussion Papers 2525, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  3. Benoît, Jean-Pierre & Dubra, Juan, 2007. "Overconfidence?," MPRA Paper 6017, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Nov 2007. [Downloadable!]
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