Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/202701 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2019
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 12355
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
How many comparison dimensions individuals consider when they are asked to judge how similar two different objects are? I address individual heterogeneity in the number of comparison dimensions with data from a laboratory experiment. I estimate the smallest number of dimensions such that objects may be represented in space where distance corresponds to similarity. I find that the mean smallest number of dimensions in real data is one standard deviation smaller than in randomly simulated data. Furthermore, I find that individuals who find the objects relatively similar to each other are also the ones who implicitly consider fewer dimensions.
Subjects: 
multidimensional scaling
similarity
latent dimensions
dimensionality
JEL: 
D12
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
477.83 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.