Neural Activity Reveals Preferences without Choices
American Economic Journal: Microeconomics
vol. 6,
no. 2, May 2014
(pp. 1-36)
Abstract
We investigate the feasibility of inferring the choices people would make (if given the opportunity) based on their neural responses to the pertinent prospects when they are not engaged in actual decision making. The ability to make such inferences is of potential value when choice data are unavailable, or limited in ways that render standard methods of estimating choice mappings problematic. We formulate prediction models relating choices to "nonchoice" neural responses, and use them to predict out-of-sample choices for new items and for new groups of individuals. The predictions are sufficiently accurate to establish the feasibility of our approach.Citation
Smith, Alec, B. Douglas Bernheim, Colin F. Camerer, and Antonio Rangel. 2014. "Neural Activity Reveals Preferences without Choices." American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 6 (2): 1-36. DOI: 10.1257/mic.6.2.1Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D12 Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
- D87 Neuroeconomics
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