A Better Test of Choice Overload

Abstract

Choice overload - in which larger choice sets are detrimental to a chooser's well-being - is potentially of great importance in the design of economic policy. Yet current evidence on its prevalence is inconclusive. We argue that existing tests are likely to be underpowered and hence that choice overload may occur more often than the literature suggests. We propose more powerful tests based on richer data and characterization theorems based on specific models, including random utility. These new approaches come with significant econometric challenges, which we show how to address. We apply our tests to new experimental data and find strong evidence of choice overload that would likely be missed using current approaches.