Diffusion by imitation: The importance of targeting agents

B-Tier
Journal: Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
Year: 2017
Volume: 139
Issue: C
Pages: 118-151

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

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

Abstract

We study the optimal targeting strategy of a planner who seeks to maximize the diffusion of an action in a society where agents imitate successful past behavior of others. The agents face individual decision problems under uncertainty, make reversible adoption choices and interact locally, so that each agent affects only her neighbors. We find that the optimal targeting strategy depends on two parameters: (i) the likelihood of the action being more successful than its alternative and (ii) the planner's patience. More specifically, for an infinitely patient planner, the optimal strategy is to cluster all the targeted agents in one connected group when her preferred action has higher probability of being more successful than its alternative; whereas it is optimal spreading them across the population when this probability is lower. Interestingly, for an impatient planner the optimal targeting strategy is exactly the opposite.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:jeborg:v:139:y:2017:i:c:p:118-151
Journal Field
Theory
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-29