The dark side of transparency: When hiding in plain sight works

Tatiana Mayskaya and Arina Nikandrova

Journal of Economic Theory, 2023, vol. 212, issue C

Abstract: A hider publicly commits to the number of seekers and then privately gets involved in a story, which may be compromising. Each seeker aims to be the first to learn and report a compromising story. The seekers learn the story privately and in continuous time. With more seekers, the hider's story gets revealed at a faster rate, but each seeker gets discouraged and ceases learning more quickly. To reduce the probability of a compromising report, the hider may optimally choose infinitely many seekers. Nevertheless, the hider unambiguously benefits from making it harder for each seeker to learn her story.

Keywords: Transparency; Poisson process; Strategic experimentation; Private learning; Privacy paradox (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C73 D82 D83 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jetheo:v:212:y:2023:i:c:s0022053123000959

DOI: 10.1016/j.jet.2023.105699

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