Sequential Communication: Ally or Rival First?

Abstract

We analyze a cheap talk model with three possible decisions and two experts, one biased and one unbiased. Sequential public communication is always optimal for the decision maker. The optimal ordering of speaking depends on the conflict indices of the two experts, where the conflict index of an expert is his probability that there is a conflict conditional on a conflict being possible. In some cases, it is optimal to have the unbiased expert speak first in order to silence him. The decision maker may be better off if the biased expert knows all of the unbiased expert's information. He may also prefer to replace the unbiased expert with a second biased one.

Keywords

Reference

Bob Evans, and Soenje Reiche, Sequential Communication: Ally or Rival First?, October 2013.