IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolet/v190y2020ics0165176520300951.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Learning, belief manipulation and optimal relationship termination

Author

Listed:
  • Gao, Hong
  • Xu, Haibo

Abstract

We study a dynamic agency problem in which a principal and an agent interact on a project repeatedly with the agent’s ability initially unknown to both players. Because an incompetent agent generates successes less frequently and thereby needs to be rewarded more generously for his successes, the agent has attempts to “play dumb” by shirking deliberately. We show that the principal can incentivize the agent by resorting to a combination of wage payments and relationship termination. In equilibrium, relationship termination is introduced in the contracts only when the players’ assessment about the agent’s ability is above a threshold. As a result, the dynamic agency cost presents a non-monotonic relationship with the agent’s ability.

Suggested Citation

  • Gao, Hong & Xu, Haibo, 2020. "Learning, belief manipulation and optimal relationship termination," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:190:y:2020:i:c:s0165176520300951
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2020.109108
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165176520300951
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econlet.2020.109108?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Johannes Hörner & Larry Samuelson, 2013. "Incentives for experimenting agents," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 44(4), pages 632-663, December.
    2. , & ,, 2012. "A principal-agent model of sequential testing," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 7(3), September.
    3. Meyer, Margaret A & Vickers, John, 1997. "Performance Comparisons and Dynamic Incentives," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(3), pages 547-581, June.
    4. Dirk Bergemann & Ulrigh Hege, 2005. "The Financing of Innovation: Learning and Stopping," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 36(4), pages 719-752, Winter.
    5. Bhaskar, V. & Mailath, George J., 2019. "The curse of long horizons," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 74-89.
    6. Gibbons, Robert & Murphy, Kevin J, 1992. "Optimal Incentive Contracts in the Presence of Career Concerns: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(3), pages 468-505, June.
    7. Gerardi, Dino & Maestri, Lucas, 2020. "Dynamic contracting with limited commitment and the ratchet effect," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 15(2), May.
    8. repec:cwl:cwldpp:1726rrr is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Bonatti, Alessandro & Hörner, Johannes, 2017. "Career concerns with exponential learning," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 12(1), January.
    10. repec:cwl:cwldpp:1726rr is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Bengt Holmström, 1999. "Managerial Incentive Problems: A Dynamic Perspective," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 66(1), pages 169-182.
    12. Laffont, Jean-Jacques & Tirole, Jean, 1988. "The Dynamics of Incentive Contracts," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 56(5), pages 1153-1175, September.
    13. Bengt Holmstrom, 1999. "Managerial Incentive Problems: A Dynamic Perspective," NBER Working Papers 6875, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bhaskar, Venkataraman, 2014. "The Ratchet Effect Re-examined: A Learning Perspective," CEPR Discussion Papers 9956, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Bhaskar, Venkataraman, 2012. "Dynamic Moral Hazard, Learning and Belief Manipulation," CEPR Discussion Papers 8948, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Giat, Yahel & Subramanian, Ajay, 2013. "Dynamic contracting under imperfect public information and asymmetric beliefs," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 2833-2861.
    4. Khalil, Fahad & Lawarree, Jacques & Rodivilov, Alexander, 2020. "Learning from failures: Optimal contracts for experimentation and production," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    5. Anil Arya & Brian Mittendorf, 2007. "The Benefits of Aggregate Performance Metrics in the Presence of Career Concerns," Yale School of Management Working Papers amz2549, Yale School of Management, revised 01 Jan 2009.
    6. Portilla, Yolanda, 2009. "Career concerns and investment maturity in mutual funds," UC3M Working papers. Economics we091106, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía.
    7. Alessandro Bonatti & Johannes Horner, 2011. "Career Concerns with Coarse Information," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1831, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University, revised Jan 2012.
    8. Korok Ray, 2007. "Performance Evaluations and Efficient Sorting," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(4), pages 839-882, September.
    9. Bhaskar, V. & Mailath, George J., 2019. "The curse of long horizons," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 74-89.
    10. Leonardo Martinez, 2006. "Reputation and Career Concerns," 2006 Meeting Papers 853, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    11. Alessandro Bonatti & Johannes Horner, 2011. "Career Concerns and Market Structure," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1831R, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University, revised Oct 2013.
    12. Anil Arya & Brian Mittendorf, 2007. "The Benefits of Aggregate Performance Metrics in the Presence of Career Concerns," Yale School of Management Working Papers amz2549, Yale School of Management, revised 01 Jan 2009.
    13. Martinez Leonardo, 2009. "Reputation, Career Concerns, and Job Assignments," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 9(1), pages 1-29, May.
    14. Heski Bar-Isaac, 2004. "Something to Prove: Reputation in teams and hiring to introduce uncertainty," Working Papers 04-07, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics.
    15. Christian Lukas, 2007. "Managerial expertise, learning potential and dynamic incentives: get more for less?," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(3), pages 195-211.
    16. Atif Mian, 2008. "Incentives in Markets, Firms, and Governments," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 24(2), pages 273-306, October.
    17. Botond Koszegi & Wei Li, 2002. "Ambition and Talent," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 0214, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    18. Caroline Flammer & Michael W. Toffel & Kala Viswanathan, 2021. "Shareholder activism and firms' voluntary disclosure of climate change risks," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(10), pages 1850-1879, October.
    19. Englmaier, Florian & Muehlheusser, Gerd & Roider, Andreas, 2014. "Optimal incentive contracts for knowledge workers," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 82-106.
    20. Kräkel, Matthias, 2004. "Emotions and Incentives," IZA Discussion Papers 1270, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Hidden action; Hidden information; Belief manipulation; Relationship termination;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:190:y:2020:i:c:s0165176520300951. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolet .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.