Discrete games with flexible information structures: an application to local grocery markets

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Grieco, Paul L. E.
• 署名单位: Pennsylvania Commonwealth System of Higher Education (PCSHE); Pennsylvania State University; Pennsylvania State University - University Park
• 刊物名称: RAND JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0741-6261
• DOI: 10.1111/1756-2171.12052
• 发表日期: 2014
• 页码: 303-340
• 关键词: wal-mart; empirical-analysis; entry; models; COMPETITION; identification; differentiation; parameters; inference; regions

摘要

Game-theoretic models are frequently employed to study strategic interaction between agents. Empirical research has focused on estimating payoff functions while maintaining strong assumptions regarding the information structure of the game. I show how to relax informational assumptions to enhance the credibility of empirical analysis in discrete games. I apply the method to data on the entry and exit patterns of grocery stores. The model provides useful bounds on equilibrium outcomes. In addition, the empirical analysis indicates that more restrictive informational assumptions can generate qualitatively misleading counterfactual outcomes.