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On Price-Taking Behavior in Asymmetric Information Economies

Author

Listed:
  • Richard McLean

    (Department of Economics, Rutgers University)

  • James Peck

    (Department of Economics, Ohio State University)

  • Andrew Postlewaite

    (Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania)

Abstract

It is understood that rational expectations equilibria may not be incentive compatible: agents with private information may be able to affect prices through the information conveyed by their market behavior. We present a simple general equilibrium model to illustrate the connection between the notion of informational size presented in McLean and Postlewaite (2002) and the incentive properties of market equilibria. Specifically, we show that fully revealing market equilibria are not incentive compatible for an economy with few privately informed producers because of the producers’ informational size, but that replicating the economy decreases agents’ informational size. For sufficiently large economies, there exists an incentive compatible fully revealing market equilibrium.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard McLean & James Peck & Andrew Postlewaite, 2004. "On Price-Taking Behavior in Asymmetric Information Economies," PIER Working Paper Archive 04-040, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    • Handle: RePEc:pen:papers:04-040
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Peck, James, 2014. "A battle of informed traders and the market game foundations for rational expectations equilibrium," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 153-173.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D52 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Incomplete Markets
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design

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