可行搜索行为
Feasible Search Behavior
- Nagoya University（名古屋大学）
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院）
机构由 AI 辅助整理，请以论文原文为准。
AI总结：
本文刻画了与信息结构相容的可行搜索行为集合，证明其为多面体，并指出单一信息结构可合理化所有行为且使福利最小化，为信息设计和识别提供洞见。
AI中文摘要：
考虑这样一种情形：决策者以任意搜索顺序在异质选项中顺序搜索最佳替代方案。代理在检查某个选项时部分地了解其价值。信息结构共同决定了调查每个选项的事前和事后价值，从而塑造了整个学习路径。我们刻画了与某种信息结构相容的所有搜索行为的集合，该集合构成一个多面体。单一信息结构能够合理化所有这些搜索行为，并且在所有信息结构中使代理的福利最小化。在关于原始数据的特定对称性假设下，我们还考察了有无选项卖方价格竞争情况下所有可行的搜索与选择行为对的集合，并证明了相同的结果。我们的研究不仅为分析信息如何塑造有序学习路径提供了一个简单框架，而且为此类环境中的信息设计和识别问题提供了深刻见解。
英文摘要：
Consider a situation wherein a decision maker sequentially searches for the best alternative among heterogeneous options with an arbitrary search order. The agent partially learns the value of an option when inspecting it. The information structure jointly determines the ex-ante and ex-post value of investigating each option, thereby shaping the entire learning path. We characterize the set of all search behaviors compatible with some information structure, which forms a polytope. A single information structure rationalizes all these search behaviors, which minimizes the agent's welfare among all information structures. Under certain symmetry assumption over primitives, we also examine the set of all feasible pairs of search and choice behaviors, with and without option sellers' price competition, and prove the same results. Our study not only provides a simple framework for analyzing how information shapes ordered learning paths, but also offers sharp insights into information design and identification problems in such environments.
