eprintid: 27176
rev_number: 18
eprint_status: archive
userid: 3114
dir: disk0/00/02/71/76
datestamp: 2019-09-27 12:40:15
lastmod: 2019-12-03 09:52:19
status_changed: 2019-09-27 12:40:15
type: workingPaper
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Schmidt, Robert J.
title: Capitalizing on the (false) consensus effect: Two tractable methods to elicit private information
subjects: 330
divisions: 181000
keywords: private information, false consensus effect, surveys, crowd wisdom, beliefs
abstract: We propose and experimentally test two tractable methods to incentivize the elicitation of private information: Benchmark and Coordination. Both mechanisms capitalize on the false consensus effect, a well-documented phenomenon that follows Bayesian reasoning. That is, individuals use their own type when predicting the type of others. Since it is not feasible to incentivize the elicitation of private information using facts, when these are not verifiable, we incentivize the respondent to reveal her perceptions about others and use that statement to predict the subject´s private information. The stronger the relationship between a subject's type and her perception about the type of others, the more effective the mechanisms are in revealing the subject´s privately held information. In an experiment, we apply the mechanisms to reveal beliefs about probabilities. On the aggregate level, both mechanisms accurately reveal mean first-order beliefs of the population. On the subject level, the modal difference between probabilities elicited in either mechanism and actual first-order beliefs is zero. The results indicate that subjects strongly anchor their statements in Benchmark and Coordination on their private information.
date: 2019-09
id_scheme: DOI
id_number: 10.11588/heidok.00027176
schriftenreihe_cluster_id: sr-3
schriftenreihe_order: 0669
ppn_swb: 1678112135
own_urn: urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-heidok-271767
language: eng
bibsort: SCHMIDTROBCAPITALIZI201909
full_text_status: public
series: Discussion Paper Series / University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics
volume: 0669
place_of_pub: Heidelberg
pages: 34
related_url_url: https://doi.org/10.11588/data/7WGSTU
related_url_type: research_data
citation:   Schmidt, Robert J.  (2019) Capitalizing on the (false) consensus effect: Two tractable methods to elicit private information.  [Working paper]     
document_url: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/27176/1/Schmidt_2019_dp669.pdf