Learning and Type Compatibility in Signaling Games

Drew Fudenberg and Kevin He

Econometrica, 2018, vol. 86, issue 4, 1215-1255

Abstract: Which equilibria will arise in signaling games depends on how the receiver interprets deviations from the path of play. We develop a micro‐foundation for these off‐path beliefs, and an associated equilibrium refinement, in a model where equilibrium arises through non‐equilibrium learning by populations of patient and long‐lived senders and receivers. In our model, young senders are uncertain about the prevailing distribution of play, so they rationally send out‐of‐equilibrium signals as experiments to learn about the behavior of the population of receivers. Differences in the payoff functions of the types of senders generate different incentives for these experiments. Using the Gittins index (Gittins (1979)), we characterize which sender types use each signal more often, leading to a constraint on the receiver's off‐path beliefs based on “type compatibility” and hence a learning‐based equilibrium selection.

Date: 2018
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.3982/ECTA15085

Related works:
Working Paper: Learning and Type Compatibility in Signaling Games (2018)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wly:emetrp:v:86:y:2018:i:4:p:1215-1255

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.economet ... ordering-back-issues

Access Statistics for this article

Econometrica is currently edited by Guido W. Imbens

More articles in Econometrica from Econometric Society Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().