Directives, expressives, and motivation

When an agent’s motivation is sensitive to how his supervisor thinks about the agent’s competence, the supervisor has to take into account both informational and expressive contents of her message to the agent. This paper shows that the supervisor can credibly express her trust in the agent’s ability only by being un- clear about what to do. Suggesting what to do, i.e., “directives,” could reveal the supervisor’s “distrust” and reduce the agent’s equilibrium effort level even though it provides useful information about the decision environment. There is also an equilibrium in which directives are neutral in expressive content. However, it is shown that neologism proofness favors equilibria in which directives are double- edged swords

A Strategic Selection Procedure

A decision maker (DM) wishes to select a competent candidate to fill a position. However, since the wage and task of the position is predetermined, the DM cannot use contract as a screening device. This paper formulates the problem as a class of selection problem and derives the optimal selection procedure. The key element of our selection procedure is voluntary testing. That is, unlike statistical selection procedures, the signal generating process is endogenous. Then, the optimal selection rule takes into account not only the test performances but also signaling element of the test. We analyze the selection procedure as a signaling game and derive the optimal selection rule. Moreover, the optimal size of candidate pool and the selection efficiency are also analyzed. It is shown that, by making the test voluntary, the selection efficiency can be dramatically improved.Signaling, Screening, Selection problem, Selection procedure, Testing

Negative and Positive Effects of Competition in a Preemption Game

Agents compete to acquire a limited economic opportunity of uncertain profitability. Each agent decides how much he acquires public signals before making investment under fear of preemption. I show that equilibria have various levels of efficiency under mild competition. The eect of competition on the equilibrium strategy is dierent depending on which class of equilibrium we focus on. However, when competitive pressure is sufficiently high, there exists a unique equilibrium. Finally, I show that the eect of competition on efficiency is dierent between the common value and the private value setting. Strong competition leads to the least efficient equilibrium for the common value setting but efficiency can be improved by competition in the private value setting.Competition, Preemption game, Strategic real option

Competitive Problem Solving and the Optimal Prize Schemes

Agents compete to solve a problem. Each agent knows own computational capacity as private information and simultaneously chooses either a risky or a safe problem solving method. This paper analyzes the optimal prize schemes from the perspective of the prize designer who wishes to find a solution as quick as possible. It is shown that (i) the winner- take-all scheme can induce excessive risk taking and make problem solving slower (ii) prize schemes with milder competitive pressure induce the optimal risk taking and quicker problem solving.Optimal prize scheme, Risk taking, Problem solving

Strategic transparency and electoral pressure

This paper investigates how an office-motivated incumbent can use transparency enhancement on public spending to signal his budgetary management ability and win re-election. We show that when the incumbent faces a popular challenger, transparency policy can be an effective signaling device. A more popular challenger can reduce the probability to enhance transparency, while voters can be better off due to a more informative signaling. It is also shown that a higher level of public interest in fiscal issues can increase the probability of enhancing transparency, while voters can be worse off by a less informative signaling