Diffusion Games.

Behaviors and information often spread via person-to-person diffusion. This paper highlights how diffusion processes can facilitate coordination. I study contagion in a discrete network with Bayesian players. In addition to characterizing the extent and rate of adoption, we uncover a new effect: whe...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:American Economic Review Vol. 110; no. 1; pp. 225 - 271
Autor principal: Sadler, Evan
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: American Economic Association Jan2020
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:Behaviors and information often spread via person-to-person diffusion. This paper highlights how diffusion processes can facilitate coordination. I study contagion in a discrete network with Bayesian players. In addition to characterizing the extent and rate of adoption, we uncover a new effect: when large cascades are possible in equilibrium, exposure conveys information about a player's network position. This effect underscores a novel trade-off in the design of marketing campaigns, suggesting conditions under which word-of-mouth is relatively more effective. A generalization of the model to multi-type networks suggests a new approach to targeted seeding. (JEL D83, D85, M31, M37, Z13)