Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/96858 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 4740
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
We investigate the possibility that a decision-maker prefers to avoid making a decision and instead delegates it to an external device, e.g., a coin flip. In a series of experiments the participants often choose lotteries between allocations, which contradicts most theories of choice such as expected utility but is consistent with a theory of responsibility aversion that implies a preference for randomness. A large data set on university applications in Germany shows a choice pattern that is also consistent with this theory and entails substantial allocative consequences.
Subjects: 
preference for randomization
menu-dependent preference
individual decision making
university choice
matching
JEL: 
D03
D01
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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