Davide Grossi (Liverpool): “Mutual Persuasion”

Abstract: Two agents are faced with a choice between two options. They are uncertain about which option is the right one and are endowed with a personal bias, each in favor of a different option. They first acquire independent information by observing a private signal with known quality. They then need to reveal their private signal to the other agent, but may decide to manipulate some of the evidence the signal provides, in order to persuade the other agent in the direction of their own bias. In this talk I present a Bayesian model capturing this form of persuasion, analyze the strategies available to the agents and characterize the possible outcomes of the interaction. The model applies to a variety of phenomena, like political discussions, settlement negotiations and trade.

This is joint work with Giuseppe Dari-Mattiacci (Amsterdam Center for Law and Economics, University of Amsterdam).

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