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Persuasion, binary choice, and the costs of dishonesty

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  • Hodler, Roland
  • Loertscher, Simon
  • Rohner, Dominic

Abstract

We study the strategic interaction between a decision maker who needs to take a binary decision but is uncertain about relevant facts and an informed expert who can send a message to the decision maker but has a preference over the decision. We show that the probability that the expert can persuade the decision maker to take the expert’s preferred decision is a hump-shaped function of his costs of sending dishonest messages.

Suggested Citation

  • Hodler, Roland & Loertscher, Simon & Rohner, Dominic, 2014. "Persuasion, binary choice, and the costs of dishonesty," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 124(2), pages 195-198.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:124:y:2014:i:2:p:195-198
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2014.05.013
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Federico Vaccari, 2023. "Influential news and policy-making," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 76(4), pages 1363-1418, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Persuasion; Costly signaling; Expert advice; Information distortion;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design

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