Culture and communication

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Sethi, Rajiv; Yildiz, Muhamet
• 署名单位: Columbia University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC THEORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0531
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jet.2026.106152
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: online; news

摘要

A defining feature of culture is similarity in the manner in which information is interpreted. This facilitates extraction of information from the beliefs of those in one's own group, a force for homophily. However, observation of individuals outside one's group deepens our understanding of their culture, counteracting this effect. We model this process, using unobservable, heterogeneous priors (correlated within but not across groups) to represent initial beliefs, and characterize long-run communication patterns. At moderate levels of correlation in priors, individuals can be partitioned into two categories: some exhibit extreme informational homophily, while others seek information wherever it is most precise.