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The Effect of an Additional Alternative on Measured Risk Preferences in a Laboratory Experiment in Peru

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Jim Engle-Warnick ()
Javier Escobal
Sonia Laszlo ()

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Abstract

We experimentally test for the effect of an additional alternative on the measured risk preferences of farmers in rural Peru. In our experiment, subjects revealed their risk preferences with a series of choices between two gambles. We added a third gamble, which was always dominated by one of the two existing gambles. We found that subjects chose this gamble nearly one quarter of the time, in some cases causing the subjects to appear to be more risk loving. We found that subjects in a traditional laboratory environment did not choose the dominated gamble, but their choices were affected by its presence.

Une étude expérimentale a été menée dans le but de vérifier l’incidence qu’un choix supplémentaire peut avoir sur les préférences mesurées des fermiers des zones rurales du Pérou à l’égard du risque. Au cours de notre expérience, les sujets étaient appelés à exprimer leurs préférences face au risque en fonction d’une série de choix entre deux loteries. Nous avons ajouté une troisième loterie, laquelle était toujours dominée par une des deux loteries existantes. Nous avons pu constater que, le quart du temps, les sujets choisissaient cette nouvelle loterie, de sorte que, dans certains cas, les sujets semblaient être plus enclins au risque. Nous avons constaté, dans un environnement de laboratoire traditionnel, que les sujets ne choisissaient pas la loterie dominée, mais que leurs choix étaient influencés par sa présence.

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Paper provided by CIRANO in its series CIRANO Working Papers with number 2006s-06.

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Date of creation: 01 May 2006
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Handle: RePEc:cir:cirwor:2006s-06

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Related research
Keywords: rural development; technology choice; risk preferences; risk measurement instruments; experimental economics; choix de la technologie; développement rural; économie expérimentale; instruments de mesure du risque; préférences à l’égard du risque;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
O33 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
O18 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Regional, Urban, and Rural Analyses
C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior

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References listed on IDEAS
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    Other versions:
  4. Catherine Eckel & Cathleen Johnson & Claude Montmarquette, 2004. "Saving Decisions of the Working Poor: Short-and Long-Term Horizons," CIRANO Working Papers 2004s-45, CIRANO. [Downloadable!]
  5. Joseph Henrich & Richard McElreath, 2002. "Are Peasants Risk-Averse Decision Makers?," Artefactual Field Experiments 0057, The Field Experiments Website. [Downloadable!]
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  8. Binswanger, Hans P, 1981. "Attitudes toward Risk: Theoretical Implications of an Experiment in Rural India," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 91(364), pages 867-90, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Marianne Bertrand & Dean S. Karlan & Sendhil Mullainathan & Eldar Shafir & Jonathan Zinman, 2005. "What's Psychology Worth? A Field Experiment in the Consumer Credit Market," Working Papers 918, Economic Growth Center, Yale University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  12. Mette Wik & Tewodros Aragie Kebede & Olvar Bergland & Stein T. Holden, 2004. "On the measurement of risk aversion from experimental data," Applied Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 36(21), pages 2443-2451, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Grisley, William & Kellog, Earl, 1987. "Risk-taking preferences of farmers in northern Thailand: Measurements and implications," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 1(2), pages 127-142, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Feder, Gershon & Just, Richard E & Zilberman, David, 1985. "Adoption of Agricultural Innovations in Developing Countries: A Survey," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(2), pages 255-98, January.
  15. Feder, Gershon, 1980. "Farm Size, Risk Aversion and the Adoption of New Technology under Uncertainty," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 32(2), pages 263-83, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Sachiko Miyata, 2003. "Household's risk attitudes in Indonesian villages," Applied Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 35(5), pages 573-583, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  17. Hans P. Binswanger, 1981. "Attitudes Toward Risk: Theoretical Implications of an Experiment in Rural India," Artefactual Field Experiments 0009, The Field Experiments Website. [Downloadable!]
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