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Private disclosure with multiple agents

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  • Zhu, Shuguang

Abstract

This study examines a mechanism design problem where the principal can affect the agents' knowledge of a payoff-relevant state, namely, the principal designs and commits to an information disclosure policy that generates agent-specific private signals, while the principal directly observes neither the state nor the signal profile. We solve this problem by constructing a novel class of disclosure policies that exhibit individually uninformative, aggregately revealing, and immune to unilateral misreporting properties and show that the principal achieves the same payoff as if she could directly observe the state and implement state-contingent allocation rules. Moreover, we prove that our disclosure policy is robust to information-sharing among a certain number of agents and remains optimal in various settings.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhu, Shuguang, 2023. "Private disclosure with multiple agents," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jetheo:v:212:y:2023:i:c:s0022053123001011
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jet.2023.105705
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Pham, Hien, 2023. "How Information Design Shapes Optimal Selling Mechanisms," MPRA Paper 120364, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 06 Mar 2024.
    2. Pham, Hien, 2023. "How Information Design Shapes Optimal Selling Mechanisms," MPRA Paper 120462, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 17 Mar 2024.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Individually uninformative; Aggregately revealing; Information disclosure; Mechanism design;
    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

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