Information projection: model and applications
Abstract
People exaggerate the extent to which their information is shared with others. This paper introduces the concept of such information projection and provides a simple but widely applicable model. The key application describes a novel agency conflict in a frictionless learning environment. When monitoring with ex post information, biased evaluators exaggerate how much experts could have known ex ante and underestimate experts on average. Experts, to defend their reputations, are too eager to base predictions on ex ante information that substitutes for the information jurors independently learn ex post and too reluctant to base predictions on ex ante information that complements the information jurors independently learn ex post. Instruments that mitigate Bayesian agency conflicts are either ineffective or directly backfire. Limiting monitoring improves efficiency. Applications to defensive medicine are discussed.Download Info
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Paper provided by University Library of Munich, Germany in its series MPRA Paper with number 38612.Length:
Date of creation: 2008
Date of revision: 2011
Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:38612
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Related research
Keywords: Biased beliefs Hindsight bias Misattribution Monitoring Defensive agency Defensive medicine;Find related papers by JEL classification:
- D0 - Microeconomics - - General
- D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Economics; Underlying Principles
- D86 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Economics of Contract Law
- D84 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Expectations; Speculations
- D20 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - General
- D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
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Citations
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
- Major, Iván & Kiss, Károly M., 2011. "Regulation of network industries in the European Union and in Central and Eastern Europe," 22nd European Regional ITS Conference, Budapest 2011: Innovative ICT Applications - Emerging Regulatory, Economic and Policy Issues 52194, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
- David Danz & Frank Hüber & Dorothea Kübler & Lydia Mechtenberg & Julia Schmid, 2013.
"‘I'll do it by myself as I knew it all along’: On the failure of hindsight-biased principals to delegate optimally,"
SFB 649 Discussion Papers
SFB649DP2013-009, Sonderforschungsbereich 649, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany.
- Danz, David & Hüber, Frank & Kübler, Dorothea & Mechtenberg, Lydia & Schmid, Julia, 2013. "'I'll do it by myself as I knew it all along': On the failure of hindsight-biased principals to delegate optimally," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Market Behavior SP II 2013-203, Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB).
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