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Rational Inattention, Competitive Supply, and Psychometrics

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew Caplin
  • Dániel CsabaQuantCo
  • John Leahy
  • Oded Nov

Abstract

We introduce a simple method of recovering attention costs from choice data. Our method rests on a precise analogy with production theory. Costs of attention determine consumer demand and consumer welfare, just as a competitive firm’s technology determines its supply curve and profits. We implement our recovery method experimentally, outline applications, and link our work to the broader literature on inattention and mistaken decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Caplin & Dániel CsabaQuantCo & John Leahy & Oded Nov, 2020. "Rational Inattention, Competitive Supply, and Psychometrics," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(3), pages 1681-1724.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:qjecon:v:135:y:2020:i:3:p:1681-1724.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/qje/qjaa011
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Paul Grass & Philipp Schirmer & Malin Siemers, 2025. "Sticky Models," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2025_655, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    2. Bartosz Maćkowiak & Filip Matějka & Mirko Wiederholt, 2023. "Rational Inattention: A Review," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 61(1), pages 226-273, March.
    3. Andrew Caplin & Daniel Martin & Philip Marx, 2025. "Rationalizable learning," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 80(1), pages 171-202, August.
    4. Kumar, Rajeev Ranjan & Raj, Alok & Ajith Kumar, J., 2025. "The energy efficiency paradox in electric vehicle adoption: Estimating the internal discount rate and the influences of behavioural factors," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    5. David Almog & Daniel Martin, 2024. "Rational inattention in games: experimental evidence," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 27(4), pages 715-742, September.
    6. Sean Duffy & John Smith, 2025. "An economist and a psychologist form a line: What can imperfect perception of length tell us about stochastic choice?," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 99(3), pages 701-734, November.
    7. Alex Bloedel & Tommaso Denti & Luciano Pomatto, 2025. "Modeling information acquisition via f-divergence and duality," Papers 2510.03482, arXiv.org.
    8. Duffy, Sean & Gussman, Steven & Smith, John, 2019. "Judgments of length in the economics laboratory: Are there brains in choice?," MPRA Paper 93126, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Duffy, Sean & Smith, John, 2025. "Stochastic choice and imperfect judgments of line lengths: What is hiding in the noise?," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    10. Ronald van den Berg & Qijia Zou & Yuhang Li & Wei Ji Ma, 2023. "No effect of monetary reward in a visual working memory task," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(1), pages 1-15, January.
    11. Azevedo, Viviane & Lafortune, Jeanne & Olarte, Liliana & Tessada, José, 2024. "Personalizing or reminding? How to better incentivize savings among underbanked individuals," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 25-63.
    12. Xiaoye Jin, 2024. "Salience theory value spillovers between China’s systemically important banks: evidence from quantile connectedness," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 10(1), pages 1-39, December.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General
    • C91 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Individual Behavior
    • D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
    • D04 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Policy: Formulation; Implementation; Evaluation
    • D11 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Theory
    • D6 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics
    • D8 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty

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