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Rules and Commitment in Communications: An Experimental Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Guillaume R. Fréchette

    (New York University)

  • Alessandro Lizzeri

    (New York University)

  • Jacopo Perego

    (Columbia University)

Abstract

We study the role of commitment in communication and its interactions with rules, which determine whether or not information is verifiable. Our framework nests models of cheap talk, information disclosure, and Bayesian persuasion. Our model predicts that commitment has opposite effects on information transmission under the two alternative rules. We leverage these contrasting forces to experimentally establish that subjects react to commitment in line with the main qualitative implications of the theory. Quantitatively, not all subjects behave as predicted. We show that a form of commitment blindness leads some senders to overcommunicate when information is verifiable and undercommunicate when it is not. This generates an unpredicted gap in information transmission across the two rules, suggesting a novel role for verifiable information in practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Guillaume R. Fréchette & Alessandro Lizzeri & Jacopo Perego, 2020. "Rules and Commitment in Communications: An Experimental Analysis," Working Papers 2020-76, Princeton University. Economics Department..
    • Handle: RePEc:pri:econom:2020-76
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    Cited by:

    1. Arianna Degan & Ming Li & Huan Xie, 2023. "An experimental investigation of persuasion through selective disclosure of evidence," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 56(4), pages 1490-1516, November.
    2. Kreutzkamp, Sophie & Lou, Yichuan, 2025. "Persuasion without ex-post commitment," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    3. Blume, Andreas & Lai, Ernest K. & Lim, Wooyoung, 2023. "Mediated talk: An experiment," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    4. Yi Liu & Yang Yu, 2024. "Money Burning Improves Mediated Communication," Papers 2411.19431, arXiv.org.
    5. Doval, Laura & Skreta, Vasiliki, 2024. "Mechanism design with limited commitment: Markov environments," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    6. Rentschler, Lucas & Samad, Zeeshan, 2025. "Bayesian persuasion with fact-checking: An experimental investigation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    7. Eilat, Ran & Neeman, Zvika, 2023. "Communication with endogenous deception costs," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    8. Ricardo Alonso & Odilon Câmara, 2024. "Organizing Data Analytics," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 70(5), pages 3123-3143, May.
    9. Matthias Breuer & Eva Labro & Haresh Sapra & Anastasia A. Zakolyukina, 2024. "Bridging Theory and Empirical Research in Accounting," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 62(3), pages 1121-1139, June.
    10. Monte, Daniel & Linhares, Luis Henrique, 2023. "Stealth Startups, Clauses, and Add-ons: A Model of Strategic Obfuscation," MPRA Paper 115926, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Wu, Wenhao & Ye, Bohan, 2023. "Competition in persuasion: An experiment," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 72-89.
    12. Meng, Delong & Wang, Siyu, 2024. "Impact of open-mindedness on information avoidance: Tailored vs. generic communication," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    13. Burdea, Valeria & Montero, Maria & Sefton, Martin, 2023. "Communication with partially verifiable information: An experiment," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 113-149.
    14. Geng, Sen & Guan, Menglong, 2023. "Trustworthy by design," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 70-87.
    15. Du, Ninghua & Shahriar, Quazi, 2024. "Information disclosure in mitigating moral hazard: An experimental investigation," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 284-299.
    16. Osun, Elif B. & Ozbay, Erkut Y., 2025. "Evidence games: Lying aversion and commitment," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 329-350.
    17. Carroni, Elias & Ferrari, Luca & Pignataro, Giuseppe, 2025. "Does costly persuasion signal quality?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 103(PB).
    18. Smolin, Alex & Doval, Laura, 2021. "Information Payoffs: An Interim Perspective," CEPR Discussion Papers 16543, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. Zhou, Junya, 2023. "Costly verification and commitment in persuasion," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 1100-1142.
    20. Luo, Zhaotian & Rozenas, Arturas, 2025. "Lying in persuasion," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 93-112.
    21. Laura Doval & Alex Smolin, 2024. "Persuasion and Welfare," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 132(7), pages 2451-2487.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • C92 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Laboratory, Group Behavior
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making

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