The thesis investigates the way that decision-makers' understanding of risks impacts real and financial markets. The first two chapters explore theoretically how decision-makers learn about the risks that they are exposed to, and what are the implications of their information choices in terms of the transmission of shocks to the real economy. The last chapter proposes an econometric framework for empirically testing whether the compensation that decision-makers require for being exposed to systematic sources of risk in financial markets is in line with economic theory.