TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Gill, David
AU  - Qiao, Zhongheng
        TI  - Choosing Complexity: Cognitive Ability, Overconfidence, and Task Choice
        PY  - 2026/Jul/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 18834
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp18834
        AB  - Workers and organizations routinely choose the complexity of tasks that they undertake. We study how cognitive ability and overconfidence shape this choice of task complexity, both theoretically and experimentally. Consistent with our model, we find that more cognitively able individuals choose more complex tasks. Conditional on cognitive ability, we find that more overconfident individuals also choose more complex tasks. About 80% of subjects pick their payoff-maximizing task, and higher cognitive ability predicts more efficient choices of task complexity. But errors are strikingly one-sided: nearly all who fail to choose optimally pick tasks that are too complex. Our findings suggest that organizations should pair task menus and incentives for choosing more complex tasks with information and feedback that help workers assess their ability and probability of success. This preserves the benefits of self-selection while reducing costly overreach.
        KW  - cognitive ability
KW  - complexity
KW  - task choice
KW  - choice efficiency
KW  - overconfidence
KW  - experiment
        ER  -