Bias and Negligence with Freedom of Information

A-Tier
Journal: Economic Journal
Year: 2019
Volume: 129
Issue: 624
Pages: 2979-2998

Authors (2)

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

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

Abstract

We analyse decision-making in the presence of Freedom of Information (FOI) rules. A decision-maker chooses whether to acquire costly information to inform his decision regarding a policy action. If information is not disclosed voluntarily a monitor may open a costly investigation, using FOI to access the information. A finding of biased decision-making or negligence in information acquisition generates a reward to the monitor and a penalty to the decision-maker. We find that strengthening FOI to reduce the cost of investigation may increase negligence without necessarily reducing bias. Moreover, increasing the reward for discovering negligence can paradoxically increase negligence in equilibrium.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:oup:econjl:v:129:y:2019:i:624:p:2979-2998.
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-24