Explaining attitudes towards ambiguity: an experimental test of the comparative ignorance hypothesis

Many theories have been put forward to explain attitudes towards ambiguity. This paper reports on an experiment designed to test for the existence of Comparative Ignorance when it is tested over events with a range of different likelihoods. A total of 93 subjects valued a series of gambles, one of which was played out for real. The results do not lend support to the theory, although the relationship between risk and ambiguity does appear to correspond with other theories and previous empirical work.