Category: Event

Héctor Hermida-Rivera  (University of East Anglia) will present his job market paper “Stable Voting Rules“ on March 20th at 10 AM, room QA 406. One-to-one meetings with the speaker can be arranged; please contact the seminar organizers, Dr. Noémie Cabau (cabau.noemie@gtk.bme.hu) and Dr. Arseniy Samsonov (samsonov.arseniy@gtk.bme.hu).  

Abstract:   

This paper introduces a flexible notion of stability for voting rules that can be used with any equilibrium concept. Theorem 1 shows that if players’ utility function satisfies four natural axioms, a voting rule is stable in Nash equilibria if and only if it has a unique minimal winning coalition. Theorem 2 shows that under the same four axioms, the set of stable voting rules in undominated Nash equilibria contains the set of voting rules with a unique minimal winning coalition and is contained in the set of voting rules with non-empty intersection of minimal winning coalitions. Finally, Theorems 3 to 6 rely on these results to partially characterise the set of self-stable constitutions, where a constitution is a pair of voting rules: an ordinary one for routine issues, and an extraordinary one for amendments.

Luca Sandrini (Research Center of QSMS, BME) will present: “Protecting secrets with organizational innovations “ on March 14th at 2:30 PM, room QA 406.

Abstract:   

I propose a theory of the determinants of organizational innovation which considers it as a device to lower workers’ autonomy in the production process and their ability to collect information about it. In particular, I show that firms may have incentives to increase their control over the workforce to limit spillovers of potentially valuable information if they cannot limit workers’ mobility. I design a theoretical model where firms decide how to organize the workforce to reach a target level of productivity. I assume workers’ effort increases productivity at the organizational level, but it may reduce workers learning if excessive. When firms face the threat of information spillovers regarding their secrets, they are keener to intensify control over the workforce to limit it. From a policy perspective, I show banning laws restricting workers’ mobility might be an incomplete policy, as companies would find alternative mechanisms other than legal protections to defend against appropriation. 

Maxim Senkov (CERGE-EI Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education – Economics Institute) will present his job market paper “Setting Interim Deadlines to Persuade“ on March 10th at 10 AM, room QA 406. One-to-one meetings with the speaker can be arranged; please contact the seminar organizers, Dr. Noémie Cabau (cabau.noemie@gtk.bme.hu) and Dr. Arseniy Samsonov (samsonov.arseniy@gtk.bme.hu).  

Abstract:   

A principal funds a multistage project and retains the right to cut the funding if it stagnates at some point. An agent wants to convince the principal to fund the project as long as possible and can design the flow of information about the progress of the project in order to persuade the principal. If the project is sufficiently promising ex ante, then the agent commits to providing only the good news that the project is accomplished. If the project is not promising enough ex ante, the agent persuades the principal to start the funding by committing to provide not only good news but also the bad news that a project milestone has not been reached by an interim deadline. I demonstrate that the outlined structure of optimal information disclosure holds irrespective of the agent’s profit share, benefit from the flow of funding, and the common discount rate. 

Andrei Kalk (University of Vienna) will present his paper “Environmental policy under political pressure “ on March 7th at 10 AM, room QA 406. One-to-one meetings with the speaker can be arranged; please contact the seminar organizers, Dr. Noémie Cabau (cabau.noemie@gtk.bme.hu) and Dr. Arseniy Samsonov(samsonov.arseniy@gtk.bme.hu).  

Abstract:   

Climate change poses major challenges for governments around the world
because the transition from a traditional economy to a carbon-neutral
one must take place rapidly if tipping points are not to be exceeded. A
particularly important aspect of this transition is that it necessarily
creates economic winners and losers. Individual companies or entire
industries that are dependent on the use of fossil fuels lose part of
their business basis, while other industries benefit immensely from the
transition to CO2 neutrality. This situation creates a favorable
breeding ground for lobbying and other forms of political influence. The
present paper is an attempt to contribute to the understanding of this
problem. 

Martin Obradovits (University of Innsbruck) will present his Job Market Paper “Competition with List Prices“ on February 10th at 10 AM, room QA 406 (note the room change). One-to-one meetings with the speaker can be arranged; please contact the seminar organizers, Dr. Noémie Cabau (cabau.noemie@gtk.bme.hu) and Dr. Arseniy Samsonov(samsonov.arseniy@gtk.bme.hu).  

Abstract:   

Retail prices in stores are often lower than widely advertised list prices. We study the competitive role of such list prices in a homogeneous product duopoly where firms first set list prices before setting possibly reduced retail prices. Building on Varian (1980), we assume that some consumers observe no prices, some observe all prices, and some only observe the more salient list prices. We show that when the latter group chooses myopically, firms’ ability to use list prices lowers average transaction prices. This effect is weakened when these consumers are rational. The possibility to use list prices facilitates collusion. 

Eleftheria Triviza (University of Mannheim) will present her Job Market Paper “Optimal Pricing Scheme for Addictive Goods“ on January 27th at 10 AM, room QA 406 (note the room change). One-to-one meetings with the speaker can be arranged; please contact the seminar organizers, Dr. Noémie Cabau (cabau.noemie@gtk.bme.hu) and Dr. Arseniy Samsonov(samsonov.arseniy@gtk.bme.hu).  

Abstract:   

This article analyses how consumers’ habit formation and addiction affect firms’ pricing policies. I consider both sophisticated consumers, who realize that their current consumption will affect future tastes, and “naive” consumers, who do not. The optimal contract for sophisticated consumers is a two-part tariff. The main result is that the optimal pricing pattern when the consumer is naive is a “bargain then rip-off” contract, namely a fixed fee, with the first units priced below cost, and then priced above marginal cost. This holds both under symmetric and asymmetric information about the consumers’ degree of sophistication. 

Philipp Külpmann (University of Vienna) will be presenting his Job Market Paper “Identifying the reasons for coordination failure in a laboratory experiment “ (co-authored with Davit Khantadze, ISET, Tbilisi State University) on January 19th at 10 AM, room QA 406 (note the room change). One-to-one meetings with the speaker can be arranged; please contact the seminar organizers, Dr. Noémie Cabau (cabau.noemie@gtk.bme.hu) and Dr. Arseniy Samsonov (samsonov.arseniy@gtk.bme.hu).  

Abstract:   

We investigate the effect of the absence of common knowledge on the outcomes of coordination games in a laboratory experiment. Using cognitive types, we can explain coordination failure in pure coordination games while differentiating between coordination failure due to first- and higher-order beliefs. In our experiment, around 76% of the players chose the payoff-dominant equilibrium strategy despite the absence of common knowledge. However, 9.33% of the players had first-order beliefs that led to coordination failure, and another 9.33% exhibited coordination failure due to higher-order beliefs. 

Steven Kivinen (University of Graz) will be presenting his paper “On the Manipulability of Equitable Voting Rules “ on December 13th at 10 AM, room QA 405. One-to-one meetings with the speaker can be arranged; please contact the seminar organizers, Dr. Noémie Cabau (cabau.noemie@gtk.bme.hu) and Dr. Arseniy Samsonov (samsonov.arseniy@gtk.bme.hu).  

Abstract:   

We consider the equity-manipulability trade-off when voting over two alternatives. Pairwise equity is a weakening of anonymity requiring certain permutations of the voters’ identities to preserve the outcome of the election. l-robust group strategy-proofness (l-RGSP) and fine robust group strategy-proofness (FRGSP) are notions of group strategy-proofness that allow voters to have different beliefs about players’ types (Kivinen and Tumennasan, 2021). Our main results show that, under mild conditions, for pairwise equitable voting rules anonymity is equivalent to 2-RGSP, 3-RGSP, and FRGSP. In this way, anonymity is special in its equity and non-manipulability. These results follow from several preliminary results, one of which equates 2-RGSP to comonotonicity and swap-robustness. Finally, we consider the manipulability of k-unanimous rules, and 2-RGSP when agents can be indifferent and abstain.

Mats Köster (Central European University, Vienna) will be presenting his paper “Conversations“ (co-authored with Paul Voss) on December 6th at 10 AM, room QA 405. One-to-one meetings with the speaker can be arranged; please contact the seminar organizers, Dr. Noémie Cabau (cabau.noemie@gtk.bme.hu) and Dr. Arseniy Samsonov (samsonov.arseniy@gtk.bme.hu).  

Abstract:   We develop a theory of conversations. Two agents with different interests take turns choosing the topic of the conversation. Talking about a single topic allows to delve deeper, making the conversation more informative (or enjoyable). To capture this, we assume that the marginal utility from conversing increases when the agents stay on topic. The equilibrium conversation is extreme: it either maximizes or minimizes welfare. Long conversations tend to be deep and thus efficient. Short ones are often superficial. The topic of a deep conversation depends in subtle ways on who speaks when. Applications range from echo chambers to team production. 

Toygar Kerman (Corvinus University) will be presenting his paper “Persuading Communicating Voters“ (co-authored with Anastas P. Tenev)) on November 29th at 10 AM, room QA 3rd floor conference roomn. One-to-one meetings with the speaker can be arranged; please contact the seminar organizers, Dr. Noémie Cabau (cabau.noemie@gtk.bme.hu) and Dr. Arseniy Samsonov (samsonov.arseniy@gtk.bme.hu).  

Abstract:  We study a multiple-receiver Bayesian persuasion model in which the sender wants to implement a proposal and commits to a signal which sends correlated messages to multiple receivers who have homogeneous beliefs. Receivers are connected in a network and can perfectly observe their direct neighbors’ messages. After updating their beliefs, receivers vote for or against the proposal. The setup with limited information spillovers creates a significant complication in designing optimal signals. We simplify the sender’s problem by providing partial characterizations for optimal communication and consider applications which are characterized by distinct patterns of voter interaction. We show that the sender can achieve the upper bound of the value (i.e. the case with no spillovers) in most of the applications. Surprisingly, more communication among the receivers can even be strictly better for the sender and hence strictly worse for the voters.