by
Oxoby, RobertBeliefs are a key motivator of individual behavior. As such, an
understanding of how individuals' beliefs develop is a prerequisite to
understanding decision-making and behavior. While rational choice
theory posits a Bayesian model framework for belief formation, sta-
tus construction theories argue that beliefs are strongly in
uenced
by status typications. In this paper, we develop a Bayesian model
of belief formation in which individuals use irrelevant information on
others' observable type to bias their beliefs. This model is used to
analyze a simple occupational choice setting, thereby shedding light
on the micro-macro inter-relationship between observable type (e.g.
race, gender) and social class.
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