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Essays on reputation

This dissertation examines reputation, the belief of the decision maker about
types of advisors, in incomplete information games with multiple advisors. The decision
maker believes that an advisor can be one of two types – an advisor who is
biased towards suggesting any particular advice (bad advisor) or an advisor who has
the same preferences as the decision maker (good advisor). I explain why it is not
always beneficial for the decision maker to seek advice from two advisors simultaneously
compared to seeking advice from a single advisor. It is shown that a strong
concern for one’s reputation not to be perceived as a bad advisor can make the good
advisor sometimes give wrong advice. Also, if each type of advisor considers his
future important, the decision maker is better off having a single advisor. Then I
show that, when dealing with two advisors, it is better for the decision maker to
seek advice simultaneously since the possibility of obtaining information is lower in
sequential cheap talk. I also examine how an individual’s perception of what he
thinks of himself (self-reputation) and what others think of him regarding his ability
to resist temptation (perception of reputation) affect his actions. It is shown that
higher self-reputation and higher perception of reputation help in making resolutions
and keeping up with them both in the short and the long run. However, this result
requires that individuals find it relatively easy to resist temptation. Also, even those
who find it hard to resist temptation can sustain their resolution after telling friends
about the resolution in the short run if they value the future more than the present.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/4147
Date30 October 2006
CreatorsCho, Jung Hun
ContributorsSarin, Rajiv
PublisherTexas A&M University
Source SetsTexas A and M University
Languageen_US
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeBook, Thesis, Electronic Dissertation, text
Format372084 bytes, electronic, application/pdf, born digital

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