New Experimental Evidence on Expectations Formation

62 Pages Posted: 2 Jan 2018

See all articles by Augustin Landier

Augustin Landier

HEC

Yueran Ma

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business

David Thesmar

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Sloan School of Management; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Date Written: December 2017

Abstract

In this paper, we measure belief formation in an experimental setting where agents are incentivized to provide accurate forecasts of a random variable, drawn from a stable and simple statistical process. Using these data, we estimate an empirical model that builds on the recent literature on expectation dynamics: It nests rational expectations, but also allows for extrapolation and under-reaction. Our findings are threefold. First, the rational expectation hypothesis is strongly rejected in our setting. Second, both extrapolation and underreaction patterns are statistically discernible in the data, but extrapolation quantitatively dominates. Third, our model coefficients are very robust to changes in experimental setting: They do not depend on process parameters, individual characteristics or framing. These large and stable deviations from rationality occur even though the forecasting exercise is simple and transparent.

Suggested Citation

Landier, Augustin and Ma, Yueran and Thesmar, David, New Experimental Evidence on Expectations Formation (December 2017). CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP12527, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3095577

Yueran Ma

University of Chicago - Booth School of Business ( email )

5807 S. Woodlawn Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
United States

David Thesmar

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - Sloan School of Management ( email )

100 Main Street
Cambridge, MA 02142
United States

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

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