An Empirical Framework for Discrete Games with Costly Information Acquisition

Fuente: arXiv
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Autor principal: Jeong, Youngjae
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2025
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author Jeong, Youngjae
author_facet Jeong, Youngjae
contents This paper develops a novel econometric framework for static discrete choice games with costly information acquisition. In traditional discrete games, players are assumed to perfectly know their own payoffs when making decisions, ignoring that information acquisition can be a strategic choice. In the proposed framework, I relax this assumption by allowing players to face uncertainty about their own payoffs and to optimally choose both the precision of information and their actions, balancing the expected payoffs from precise information against the information cost. The model provides a unified structure to analyze how information and strategic interactions jointly determine equilibrium outcomes. The model primitives are point identified, and the identification results are illustrated through Monte Carlo experiments. The empirical application of the U.S airline entry game shows that the low-cost carriers acquire less precise information about profits and incur lower information costs than other airlines, which is consistent with their business model that focuses on cost efficiency. The analysis highlights how differences in firms' information strategies can explain observed heterogeneity in market entry behavior and competition.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_19140
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle An Empirical Framework for Discrete Games with Costly Information Acquisition
Jeong, Youngjae
Econometrics
This paper develops a novel econometric framework for static discrete choice games with costly information acquisition. In traditional discrete games, players are assumed to perfectly know their own payoffs when making decisions, ignoring that information acquisition can be a strategic choice. In the proposed framework, I relax this assumption by allowing players to face uncertainty about their own payoffs and to optimally choose both the precision of information and their actions, balancing the expected payoffs from precise information against the information cost. The model provides a unified structure to analyze how information and strategic interactions jointly determine equilibrium outcomes. The model primitives are point identified, and the identification results are illustrated through Monte Carlo experiments. The empirical application of the U.S airline entry game shows that the low-cost carriers acquire less precise information about profits and incur lower information costs than other airlines, which is consistent with their business model that focuses on cost efficiency. The analysis highlights how differences in firms' information strategies can explain observed heterogeneity in market entry behavior and competition.
title An Empirical Framework for Discrete Games with Costly Information Acquisition
topic Econometrics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.19140