Response time and revealed information structure

Abstract:

Consider a decision-maker who has an opportunity to wait for information before making a choice. He can obtain more information by waiting more, but this is costly. As a result, he endogenously determines the length of time to choose an alternative, which is called the response time. The present study models such a decision-maker as if he solves an optimal stopping problem. The model incorporates a dynamic information structure formalized as an evolving information partition, which is called filtration. I axiomatically characterize the model using behavioral data consisting of choices and response times that depend on choice situations and states. That is, from the data, we can identify filtration. that governs the decision-maker’s learning process as well as other model parameters. This result implies that using response time helps us understand the human cognitive process.