Gambling with the House Money and Trying to Break Even: The Effects of Prior Outcomes on Risky Choice
Thaler first author. The paper proposes an editing rule for how decision makers frame choices that follow earlier outcomes, and reports real-money experiments supporting a house money effect, more risk seeking in the presence of a prior gain, and break-even effects, by which options offering a chance to recover a loss become especially attractive. The abstract prints no sample size.
Thaler first author. The paper proposes an editing rule for how decision makers frame choices that follow earlier outcomes, and reports real-money experiments supporting a house money effect, more risk seeking in the presence of a prior gain, and break-even effects, by which options offering a chance to recover a loss become especially attractive. The abstract prints no sample size.
Written from the abstract read 2026-10-18.
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Recorded when this source was checked, figures included, with page references and quotation marks removed.
Thaler, R. H., & Johnson, E. J. (1990). Gambling with the House Money and Trying to Break Even: The Effects of Prior Outcomes on Risky Choice. Management Science, 36(6), 643-660. doi:10.1287/mnsc.36.6.643.