We invite you to a FAIR Seminar with Gonzalo Arrieta Zefferino. He is a Postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Economics at the University of Zurich. His research focuses on Experimental and Behavioral Economics, studying procedural decision-making, responses to complexity, paternalism, and how people think about welfare.
Title: What You Don't Know May Hurt You: Preferences Over Mental And External States
Abstract: The dominant approach to welfare, revealed preference, is restricted to settings where the individual knows their preferences have been fulfilled. We use a choosing-for-others framework to experimentally study welfare when what the individual believes differs from what is actually true. 42% of participants see welfare as independent of beliefs; 22% see welfare as exclusively determined by beliefs; and 29% care about both beliefs and reality. Furthermore, the average participant values accurate beliefs. While there is large heterogeneity, our results suggest most people support the idea that welfare goes beyond beliefs, which can inform media regulation, informational policies, and government communication.