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Information Processing and Commitment

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  • Armin Falk
  • Florian Zimmermann

Abstract

Beliefs are often found to be sticky and rather immune to new information. In this article, we highlight a specific mechanism that raises resistance to incorporate new information. We provide causal evidence that commitment to a first opinion leads to a neglect of new and challenging information. Being asked to write down an initial estimate before additional information is obtained significantly and substantially reduces the accuracy of final beliefs. Investigating the sources of this effect, we show that our findings are well explained by an internal desire to act consistently.

Suggested Citation

  • Armin Falk & Florian Zimmermann, 2018. "Information Processing and Commitment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(613), pages 1983-2002, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:econjl:v:128:y:2018:i:613:p:1983-2002
    DOI: 10.1111/ecoj.12542
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    Cited by:

    1. Erik Eyster & Shengwu Li & Sarah Ridout, 2021. "A Theory of Ex Post Rationalization," Papers 2107.07491, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2022.
    2. Armin Falk & Anke Becker & Thomas Dohmen & David Huffman & Uwe Sunde, 2023. "The Preference Survey Module: A Validated Instrument for Measuring Risk, Time, and Social Preferences," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(4), pages 1935-1950, April.
    3. Uyanga Turmunkh & Martijn J. van den Assem & Dennie van Dolder, 2019. "Malleable Lies: Communication and Cooperation in a High Stakes TV Game Show," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(10), pages 4795-4812, October.
    4. Pons Rotger, Gabriel & Rosholm, Michael, 2020. "The Role of Beliefs in Long Sickness Absence: Experimental Evidence from a Psychological Intervention," IZA Discussion Papers 13582, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Grigorieff, Alexis & Roth, Christopher & Ubfal, Diego, 2016. "Does Information Change Attitudes Towards Immigrants? Representative Evidence from Survey Experiments," IZA Discussion Papers 10419, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Charlotte Cordes & Jana Friedrichsen & Simeon Schudy, 2023. "Motivated Procrastination," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 471, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    7. Christine L. Exley & Judd Kessler, 2017. "The Better is the Enemy of the Good," Working Papers 2017-068, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    8. Gneezy, Uri & Saccardo, Silvia & Serra-Garcia, Marta & van Veldhuizen, Roel, 2020. "Bribing the Self," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 311-324.
    9. Coby Morvinski & Silvia Saccardo & On Amir, 2023. "Mis-Nudging Morality," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(1), pages 464-474, January.
    10. Guglielmo Briscese & Maddalena Grignani & Stephen Stapleton, 2022. "Crises and Political Polarization: Towards a Better Understanding of the Timing and Impact of Shocks and Media," Papers 2202.12339, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2023.
    11. Johannes Maier & Clemens König, 2016. "A Model of Reference-Dependent Belief Updating," CESifo Working Paper Series 6156, CESifo.
    12. Grigorieff, Alexis & Roth, Christopher & Ubfal, Diego, 2016. "Does Information Change Attitudes Towards Immigrants? Representative Evidence from Survey Experiments," IZA Discussion Papers 10419, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Zhuoqiong (Charlie) Chen & Tobias Gesche, 2016. "Persistent bias in advice-giving," ECON - Working Papers 228, Department of Economics - University of Zurich, revised Oct 2017.

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