线上学术 | 应用经济学系讲座（2023-05-09）

Economics Webinar

2023-11

Topic: Coarse Information Design

Speaker: Wing Suen, Chair of Economics, The University of Hong Kong

Time: Tuesday, May 9, 1:00-2:30 p.m. Beijing Time

Location: Zoom Meeting

ABSTRACT

We study information design problem with a continuum state and a discrete signal space. We argue that the designer’s value function affects the selection of optimal information structure only through its curvature and identify a dual relation between the prior distribution and the marginal value function. Under convex value functions, the optimal information structure is interval partitional where the width of intervals are single-dipped. Specifically, the designer acquires more precise information around the area where either the state is more likely to be realized or the value function changes faster. We also provide comparative statics regarding the change of prior distributions and value functions. Then we extend our analysis to S-shaped value functions. Finally, we apply the theoretical results to study a series of economic applications and provide novel insights to these well-studied problems.

INTRODUCTION

Professor Wing SUEN was educated at The University of Hong Kong (HKU).  He obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Washington.  After doing post-doctoral research at the University of Chicago, he returned to his alma mater in 1989 and is now Chair of Economics at HKU Business School. He had also held research or teaching positions at Simon Fraser University, Harvard University, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Wing’s research interests center around applied microeconomic theory.  He has done some work on efficiency and early contracting in two-sided matching markets.  One of his current research areas looks at the transmission of information across individuals with divergent beliefs and motives.  An application that is close to the heart of the academician is the issue of grade inflation in higher education.  He argues that the college professor, in playing the dual role of advocate and judge for his students, is trapped into an inefficient equilibrium in which grades are too high.

Another example of this line of work explores the structure of social networks.  Individuals with opposing viewpoints tend to believe that the other party is uninformed or misinformed.  If people form social ties in order to obtain more information, they will rationally choose to be associated with like-minded peers.  Will there be an equilibrium in which people with different viewpoints are segregated from one another?  What are the consequences of this group formation process for the evolution of social beliefs?

Wing also maintains an interest in the labor market of Hong Kong.  He is an associate editor of the Pacific Economic Review and is program leader of the Human Resources Research Program of the Hong Kong Institute of Economics and Business Strategy.  His current work in this area focuses on the effects of public housing on internal migration, travel-to-work patterns, and labor supply decisions.