TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Blesse, Sebastian
AU  - Gruendler, Klaus
AU  - Heil, Philipp
AU  - Hermes, Henning
        TI  - The Demand for Economic Narratives
        PY  - 2025/Oct/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 18205
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp18205
        AB  - Economic narratives are pervasive in the public discourse and can shape individual behavior. But so far we know very little about whether households actually demand and value narratives as information. We combine a comprehensive expert survey with a large-scale nationally representative household sample in the U.S. to examine the demand for economic narratives in a high-stakes environment of an unprecedentedly high recession probability. We document a substantial willingness to pay for economic narratives of more than 4 USD, which is higher than for numerical forecast information. The dominant motives for acquiring narratives are intrinsic, but a smaller share of participants also lists instrumental motives. Economic narratives improve respondents’ understanding of recession drivers and shape beliefs about the economy and spending, but exert only a minor impact on quantitative expectations. Our findings underscore the potential of narratives as a tool to improve economic understanding and to foster more informed decision-making.
        KW  - belief formation
KW  - expectation formation
KW  - willingness to pay
KW  - information acquisition
KW  - experts
KW  - narratives
KW  - spending intentions
KW  - recession
        ER  -