Evaluating Deliberative Competence: A Simple Method with an Application to Financial Choice

S-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review
Year: 2022
Volume: 112
Issue: 11
Pages: 3584-3626

Score contribution per author:

2.681 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

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

Abstract

We examine methods for evaluating interventions designed to improve decision-making quality when people misunderstand the consequences of their choices. In an experiment involving financial education, conventional outcome metrics (financial literacy and directional behavioral responses) imply that two interventions are equally beneficial even though only one reduces the average severity of errors. We trace these failures to violations of the assumptions embedded in the conventional metrics. We propose a simple, intuitive, and broadly applicable outcome metric that properly differentiates between the interventions, and is robustly interpretable as a measure of welfare loss from misunderstanding consequences even when additional biases distort choices.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aecrev:v:112:y:2022:i:11:p:3584-3626
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-24