Reputation with Analogical Reasoning

Journal article: We consider a repeated interaction between a long-run player and a sequence of short-run players, in which the long-run player may either be rational or may be a mechanical type who plays the same (possibly mixed) action in every stage game. We depart from the classical model in assuming that the short-run players make inferences by analogical reasoning, meaning that they correctly identify the average strategy of each type of long-run player, but do not recognize how this play varies across histories. Concentrating on 2 × 2 games, we provide a characterization of equilibrium payoffs, establishing a payoff bound for the rational long-run player that can be strictly larger than the familiar "Stackelberg" bound. We also provide a characterization of equilibrium behavior, showing that play begins with either a reputation-building or a reputation-spending stage (depending on parameters), followed by a reputation-manipulation stage.

Author(s)

Philippe Jehiel, Larry Samuelson

Journal
  • Quarterly Journal of Economics
Date of publication
  • 2012
Keywords JEL
C7 D8
Pages
  • 1927-1969
Version
  • 1
Volume
  • 127