Time is Knowledge: What Response Times Reveal

Abstract

Response times contain information about economically relevant but unobserved variables like willingness to pay, preference intensity, quality, or happiness. We provide a general characterization of the properties of latent variables that can be detected using response time data. Our theoretical framework unifies and generalizes results in the literature and gives rise to many new applications. We illustrate the rich insights that the method can deliver through several empirical applications: revealed preference analysis, identifying an optimal nudge, testing decreasing marginal happiness of income, and predicting treatment heterogeneity.