Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/209666 
Year of Publication: 
2018
Citation: 
[Journal:] Journal of Public Economics [ISSN:] 1879-2316 [Volume:] 167 [Publisher:] Elsevier [Place:] Amsterdam [Year:] 2018 [Pages:] 240-250
Publisher: 
Elsevier, Amsterdam
Abstract: 
We empirically 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. A large data set from the centralized clearinghouse for university admissions in Germany shows a choice pattern of applicants that is consistent with coin flipping and that entails substantial consequences for the matching outcome. In a series of experiments capturing the relevant features of university choice, participants often choose lotteries between allocations rather than certain allocations. This contradicts most theories of choice such as expected utility. A survey among university applicants links their choices to the experiments and confirms that the choice of random allocations is intentional
Subjects: 
preference for randomization
matching markets
individual decision making
university admissions
JEL: 
D03
D01
Published Version’s DOI: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc-nd Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Accepted Manuscript (Postprint)

Files in This Item:
File
Size





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