American Economic Review: Insights
ISSN 2640-205X (Print) | ISSN 2640-2068 (Online)
Attention Management
American Economic Review: Insights
vol. 2,
no. 1, March 2020
(pp. 17–32)
Abstract
Attention costs can cause some information to be ignored and decisions to be imperfect. Can we improve the material welfare of a rationally inattentive agent by restricting his information in the first place? In our model, a well-intentioned principal provides information to an agent for whom information is costly to process, but the principal does not internalize this cost. We show that full information is universally optimal if and only if the environment comprises one issue. With multiple issues, attention management becomes optimal: the principal restricts some information to induce the agent to pay attention to other aspects.Citation
Lipnowski, Elliot, Laurent Mathevet, and Dong Wei. 2020. "Attention Management." American Economic Review: Insights, 2 (1): 17–32. DOI: 10.1257/aeri.20190165Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D82 Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
- D83 Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
- D91 Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making