The standard approach to nominal illusion in Economics sees it as a transitory phenomenon, as economic agents eventually see through the nominal veil, making the right choices. Recent empirical studies suggest that money illusion may persist, distorting real prices in a variety of economic environments, including the housing market and the stock market. In this paper, we explore the emergence and persistence of nominal illusion in an experimental entry game where firms must choose which local market to enter, and then compete in prices. All local markets are equivalent in real terms and they only differ in the currency the price competition is run under. Our experimental results show a positive, persistent and monotone effect of the nominal exchange rate on market prices, statistically significant for large enough exchange rate. We provide an explanation in terms of players simplifying the choice set using discrete grids.

经济学中对名义错觉的标准方法将其视为一种暂时现象，因为经济主体最终会看穿名义面纱，做出正确的选择。最近的实证研究表明，货币幻觉可能会持续存在，扭曲各种经济环境中的实际价格，包括房地产市场和股票市场。在本文中，我们探讨了在一个实验性进入博弈中名义错觉的出现和持续存在，在该博弈中，公司必须选择进入哪个本地市场，然后进行价格竞争。所有当地市场在实际中都是等价的，它们仅在进行价格竞争时使用的货币不同。我们的实验结果表明，名义汇率对市场价格具有积极、持久和单调的影响，对于足够大的汇率具有统计意义。我们在玩家使用离散网格简化选择集方面提供了解释。