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Strategic Ignorance of Health Risk: Its Causes and Policy Consequences

Nordström, Jonas LU ; Thunström, Linda ; van't Veld, Klaas ; Shogren, Jason F. and Ehmke, Mariah (2018) In IFRO Working Paper from p.1-29
Abstract
We examine the causes and policy consequences of strategic (willful) ignorance of risk as an excuse to overengage in risky health behavior. In an experiment on Copenhagen adults, we allow subjects to choose whether to learn the calorie content of a meal before consuming it, and measure their subsequent calorie intake. We find strong evidence of strategic ignorance: 46% of subjects choose to ignore calorie information, and these subjects subsequently consume more
calories on average than they would have had they been informed. We find that strategically ignorant subjects downplay the health risk of their preferred meal being high-calorie, which we formally show is consistent with the theory of optimal expectations about risk. Further,... (More)
We examine the causes and policy consequences of strategic (willful) ignorance of risk as an excuse to overengage in risky health behavior. In an experiment on Copenhagen adults, we allow subjects to choose whether to learn the calorie content of a meal before consuming it, and measure their subsequent calorie intake. We find strong evidence of strategic ignorance: 46% of subjects choose to ignore calorie information, and these subjects subsequently consume more
calories on average than they would have had they been informed. We find that strategically ignorant subjects downplay the health risk of their preferred meal being high-calorie, which we formally show is consistent with the theory of optimal expectations about risk. Further, we find that the prevalence of strategic ignorance largely negates the effectiveness of calorie information provision: on average, subjects who have the option to ignore calorie information consume about the same number of calories as subjects who are provided no information. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Working paper/Preprint
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Strategic ignorance, Willful ignorance, Optimal expectations, Risk perception, Calories, Information
in
IFRO Working Paper from
issue
2018/09
pages
1 pages
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
460edbb1-f83e-46c0-b27a-3c3be3bff9be
alternative location
https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/foiwpaper/2018_5f09.htm
date added to LUP
2018-10-15 16:59:25
date last changed
2023-01-10 12:10:13
@misc{460edbb1-f83e-46c0-b27a-3c3be3bff9be,
  abstract     = {{We examine the causes and policy consequences of strategic (willful) ignorance of risk as an excuse to overengage in risky health behavior. In an experiment on Copenhagen adults, we allow subjects to choose whether to learn the calorie content of a meal before consuming it, and measure their subsequent calorie intake. We find strong evidence of strategic ignorance: 46% of subjects choose to ignore calorie information, and these subjects subsequently consume more<br/>calories on average than they would have had they been informed. We find that strategically ignorant subjects downplay the health risk of their preferred meal being high-calorie, which we formally show is consistent with the theory of optimal expectations about risk. Further, we find that the prevalence of strategic ignorance largely negates the effectiveness of calorie information provision: on average, subjects who have the option to ignore calorie information consume about the same number of calories as subjects who are provided no information.}},
  author       = {{Nordström, Jonas and Thunström, Linda and van't Veld, Klaas and Shogren, Jason F. and Ehmke, Mariah}},
  keywords     = {{Strategic ignorance; Willful ignorance; Optimal expectations; Risk perception; Calories; Information}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{09}},
  note         = {{Working Paper}},
  number       = {{2018/09}},
  pages        = {{1--29}},
  series       = {{IFRO Working Paper from}},
  title        = {{Strategic Ignorance of Health Risk: Its Causes and Policy Consequences}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/52999015/IFRO_WP_2018_09.pdf}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}