Theoretical Economics, Volume 13, Number 2 (May 2018)

Theoretical Economics 13 (2018), 607–636


Optimal information disclosure: a linear programming approach

Anton Kolotilin

Abstract


An uninformed sender designs a mechanism that discloses information about her type to a privately informed receiver, who then decides whether to act. I impose a single-crossing assumption, so that the receiver with a higher type is more willing to act. Using a linear programming approach, I characterize optimal information disclosure and provide conditions under which full and no revelation are optimal. Assuming further that the sender's utility depends only on the sender's expected type, I provide conditions under which interval revelation is optimal. Finally, I show that the expected utilities are not monotonic in the precision of the receiver's private information.

Keywords: Bayesian persuasion, information design, information disclosure, informed receiver

JEL classification: C72, D82, D83

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