A criticism of Bernheim & Sprenger's (2020) tests of rank dependence

B-Tier
Journal: Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics
Year: 2023
Volume: 107
Issue: C

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Bernheim and Sprenger (2020, Econometrica; SB) claimed to experimentally falsify rank dependence in prospect theory. This paper criticizes SB's results and novelty claims. Their experiments only captured well-known heuristics and not genuine preferences. Many falsifications of rank dependence have been made before, and SB's equalizing reductions have also been used before. SB thought to identify probability weighting and utility where they are unidentifiable, invalidating all SB's related claims. SB used an incorrect formula of original prospect theory. Their suggested alternative of rank-independent probability weighting with dependence on the number of outcomes (their “complexity aversion;” a misnomer) has long been discarded.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:soceco:v:107:y:2023:i:c:s2214804322001215
Journal Field
Experimental
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-29