Litcius/Paper detail

A Model of Scientific Communication

Isaiah Andrews, Jesse M. Shapiro

2021Econometrica26 citationsDOIOpen Access PDF

Abstract

We propose a positive model of empirical science in which an analyst makes a report to an audience after observing some data. Agents in the audience may differ in their beliefs or objectives, and may therefore update or act differently following a given report. We contrast the proposed model with a classical model of statistics in which the report directly determines the payoff. We identify settings in which the predictions of the proposed model differ from those of the classical model, and seem to better match practice.

Topics & Concepts

Contrast (vision)Stochastic gameComputer scienceScientific modellingEconometricsMathematical economicsPsychologyArtificial intelligenceEconomicsEpistemologyPhilosophyOpinion Dynamics and Social InfluenceGame Theory and ApplicationsComplex Systems and Time Series Analysis