Political Correctness

S-Tier
Journal: Journal of Political Economy
Year: 2001
Volume: 109
Issue: 2
Pages: 231-265

Score contribution per author:

8.043 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

An informed advisor wishes to convey her valuable information to an uninformed decision maker with identical preferences. Thus she has a current incentive to truthfully reveal her information. But if the decision maker thinks that the advisor might be biased in favor of one decision and the advisor does not wish to be thought to be biased, the advisor has a reputational incentive to lie. If the advisor is sufficiently concerned about her reputation, no information is conveyed in equilibrium. In a repeated version of this game, the advisor will care (instrumentally) about her reputation simply because she wants her valuable and unbiased advice to have an impact on future decisions.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:ucp:jpolec:v:109:y:2001:i:2:p:231-265
Journal Field
General
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-26