Game show clues to risky behaviour

Researchers want to assess people's attitude to risk

By Mary Gahan BBC News Online business reporter

University researchers are being recruited to spend hours in front of the telly.

Their job will be to watch three years' worth of video tapes of the TV game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

If there were serious amounts of money I'd have to consider it very carefully

Ian Walker, economics professor

Their aim is to find out how much risk people are prepared to take with money.

And, unlike those who actually play the game, the researchers will not be able to phone a friend or ask the audience for help with the answers.

Behaviour

Professor Ian Walker, from the University of Warwick's economics department is one of those involved in the project.

He told BBC News Online that the TV programme offered the perfect opportunity to assess people's reactions to risk, because they have to decide whether or not to gamble the money they have won.

"The trick will be to try and unravel from people's behaviour why they stop where they stop in the game," he said.

The programme is screened all over the world and the research team will have to watch overseas versions of the game.

Easier questions

"I'm hoping to avoid watching hours of programmes myself by recruiting an army of linguists," said Mr Walker.

Ian Walker says we need people who take risks

He said important information could be gathered from different countries.

"The US is interesting because the questions are easier, in Denmark they play for only about £100,000 because that is 1m kroner.

"And in Australia the winnings are taxable."

Risk-takers

By the end of the project, researchers hope to be able to place a value on risk and people's attitudes to it.

They also expect to be able to say how age, gender and wealth affects people's decisions.

Mr Walker said this information was important because so many decisions involved weighing up potential gains and losses.

"For instance, we could ask do we have enough people in the economy who are prepared to take risks, do we have enough entrepreneurs?"

Serious money

He said that knowing how people feel about risk would also help governments to make decisions about how much to invest in areas such as policing, health and pensions.

And if Professor Walker were in the Who Wants to be a Millionaire hot seat at what stage would he pull out of the game and take the money?

"Well, I'm wealthier than the average person but I suspect I'm not smarter than the average person," he said.

"If I were in the hot seat and there were serious amounts of money I'd have to consider it very carefully."

That sounds very much like a 50-50.