arXiv subjects

Jake Zhang

Publications and source records attributed to Jake Zhang.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

A Costly-information Foundation for Psychometric Curves

We study a binary choice problem in which an agent chooses between two actions whose payoff depends on a continuous state. The agent chooses how much effort to invest in learning about the state. Equivalently, we can think of the state as the strength of a stimulus, with the agent exerting costly effort to be more responsive to it. Taking as given the Fisher information cost introduced by Hebert and Woodford (2021), we analyze the optimal state-dependent choice rule using a variational approach. The main result is that agents' optimal response is an S-shaped function of the state under mild conditions. This prediction is aligned with the widely documented psychometric curve response profile observed in the experimental literature in psychology and economics.

econ.TH↗

arXiv2026

Local Global Games and Network Common Learning

We study global games in which agents coordinate locally, with their social network neighbors, contingent on a favorable state. Before acting, agents learn the private signals of all agents within network distance $r$. As $r$ grows, every agent learns the state, but efficient coordination depends on higher-order beliefs, which are shaped by the geometry of the network. We introduce network common learning, a network analogue of common learning, and show that it is attained when neighboring agents' observations differ by many signals, as on the two-dimensional grid, but fails on networks with informational bottlenecks, such as the line, where only the safe action survives in equilibrium.

econ.TH↗