Rationalizing dynamic choices

Fuente: arXiv
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Hauptverfasser: de Oliveira, Henrique, Lamba, Rohit
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
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author de Oliveira, Henrique
Lamba, Rohit
author_facet de Oliveira, Henrique
Lamba, Rohit
contents An analyst observes an agent take a sequence of actions. The analyst does not have access to the agent's information and ponders whether the observed actions could be justified through a rational Bayesian model with a known utility function. We show that the observed actions cannot be justified if and only if there is a single deviation argument that leaves the agent better off, regardless of the information. The result is then extended to allow for distributions over possible action sequences. Four applications are presented: monotonicity of rationalization with risk aversion, a potential rejection of the Bayesian model with observable data, feasible outcomes in dynamic information design, and partial identification of preferences without assumptions on information.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2504_05251
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Rationalizing dynamic choices
de Oliveira, Henrique
Lamba, Rohit
Theoretical Economics
Econometrics
An analyst observes an agent take a sequence of actions. The analyst does not have access to the agent's information and ponders whether the observed actions could be justified through a rational Bayesian model with a known utility function. We show that the observed actions cannot be justified if and only if there is a single deviation argument that leaves the agent better off, regardless of the information. The result is then extended to allow for distributions over possible action sequences. Four applications are presented: monotonicity of rationalization with risk aversion, a potential rejection of the Bayesian model with observable data, feasible outcomes in dynamic information design, and partial identification of preferences without assumptions on information.
title Rationalizing dynamic choices
topic Theoretical Economics
Econometrics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.05251