Experimentation in Networks

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Board, Simon; Meyer-ter-Vehn, Moritz
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Los Angeles
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0002-8282
• DOI: 10.1257/aer.20230233
• 发表日期: 2024
• 页码: 2940-2980
• 关键词: diffusion; adoption; INNOVATION

摘要

We propose a model of strategic experimentation on social networks in which forward-looking agents learn from their own and neighbors' successes. In equilibrium, , private discovery is followed by social diffusion. Social learning crowds out own experimentation, , so total information decreases with network density; we determine density thresholds below which agents' asymptotic learning is perfect. By contrast, , agent welfare is single peaked in network density and achieves a second-best benchmark level at intermediate levels that strike a balance between discovery and diffusion. ( JEL D82, D83, D86, O31, O33, Z13)