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Xi Zhi Lim

Publications and source records attributed to Xi Zhi Lim.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Informative Consumption

Risky consumption generates information when uncertainty is resolved. This paper axiomatically characterizes the consumption-information trade-off even when the analyst does not observe an agent's future problems. A subjective future menu underpins the agent's willingness to sacrifice current consumption for future information. By carefully separating objective risk from subjective risk, we decompose the certainty equivalent of an act into a standard risk premium and a novel information premium. To facilitate applications, we introduce an Arrow-Debreu-Pratt parameterization that yields a tractable model, capturing risk aversion and information incentives with a single coefficient for each. Finally, we show that heterogeneity in risk-taking may arise from differing opportunities to capitalize on information, rather than being solely attributable to differences in risk aversion.

econ.TH

Choice and Attention across Time

I study how past and future choices are linked in the framework of attention. Attention cannot be observed but past choices are necessarily considered in future decisions. This link connects two types of rationality violations, counterfactual and realized, where the former results from inattention and the latter fully pins down preferences. Results show that the necessary traces of limited attention lie within choice sequences because they enable and compel a decision maker to correct their "mistakes". The framework accommodates different attention structures and extends to framing, introducing choice sequences as an important channel to formulate, identify, and scrutinize limited attention.

econ.TH

Ordered Reference Dependent Choice

This paper studies how violations of structural assumptions like expected utility and exponential discounting can be connected to basic rationality violations, even though these assumptions are typically regarded as independent building blocks in decision theory. A reference-dependent generalization of behavioral postulates captures preference shifts in various choice domains. When reference points are fixed, canonical models hold; otherwise, reference-dependent preference parameters (e.g., CARA coefficients, discount factors) give rise to "non-standard" behavior. The framework allows us to study risk, time, and social preferences collectively, where seemingly independent anomalies are interconnected through the lens of reference-dependent choice.

econ.TH