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Designing incentives for online question-and-answer forums

Author

Listed:
  • Jain, Shaili
  • Chen, Yiling
  • Parkes, David C.

Abstract

We provide a game-theoretic model of sequential information aggregation motivated by online question-and-answer forums. An asker posts a question and each user decides when to aggregate a unique piece of information with existing information. When the quality exceeds a certain threshold, the asker closes the question and allocates points to users. We consider the effect of different rules for allocating points on the equilibrium behavior. A best-answer rule provides a unique, efficient equilibrium in which all users respond in the first round, for substitutes valuations over information. However, the best-answer rule isolates the least efficient equilibrium for complements valuations. We demonstrate alternate scoring rules that provide an efficient equilibrium for distinct subclasses of complements valuations, and retain an efficient equilibrium for substitutes valuations. We introduce a reasonable set of axioms, and establish that no rule satisfying these axioms can achieve the efficient outcome in a unique equilibrium for all valuations.

Suggested Citation

  • Jain, Shaili & Chen, Yiling & Parkes, David C., 2014. "Designing incentives for online question-and-answer forums," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 458-474.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:gamebe:v:86:y:2014:i:c:p:458-474
    DOI: 10.1016/j.geb.2012.11.003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Benny Moldovanu & Aner Sela, 2001. "The Optimal Allocation of Prizes in Contests," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(3), pages 542-558, June.
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    4. Moldovanu, Benny & Sela, Aner, 2006. "Contest architecture," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 126(1), pages 70-96, January.
    5. Ella Segev & Aner Sela, 2014. "Sequential all-pay auctions with head starts," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 43(4), pages 893-923, December.
    6. Ella Segev & Aner Sela, 2011. "Sequential All-Pay Auctions with Head Starts and Noisy Outputs," Working Papers 1106, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Department of Economics.
    7. Segev, Ella & Sela, Aner, 2014. "Sequential all-pay auctions with noisy outputs," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 251-261.
    8. Joseph E. Stiglitz & G. Frank Mathewson (ed.), 1986. "New Developments in the Analysis of Market Structure," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262690934, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Yonghong Sun, 2023. "An economic analysis of different types of subsidies by UGC platforms," Information Technology and Management, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 221-231, September.
    2. Keith Burghardt & Emanuel F Alsina & Michelle Girvan & William Rand & Kristina Lerman, 2017. "The myopia of crowds: Cognitive load and collective evaluation of answers on Stack Exchange," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(3), pages 1-19, March.
    3. Gad Allon & Volodymyr Babich, 2020. "Crowdsourcing and Crowdfunding in the Manufacturing and Services Sectors," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 22(1), pages 102-112, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Question and answer forums; User generated content; Contests;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design

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