Extending the First-Order Approach to Principal-Agent Problems
Abstract:
The paper addresses a classic unsolved question of information economics. How can a principal best motivate a limited-liability agent whose action she observes with N(0,σ) measurement error? We characterise the solution for a wide class of cases. The solutions are easily computable. Some interesting comparative statics arise: for instance agents often work harder when there is moral hazard, than they would in the first-best. The methods generalise to families of distributions other than N(0,σ).
Date: 6 February 2018, 12:45 (Tuesday, 4th week, Hilary 2018)
Venue: Nuffield College, New Road OX1 1NF
Venue Details: Butler Room
Speaker: Ian Jewitt (University of Oxford)
Organising department: Department of Economics
Part of: Economic Theory Workshop
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Members of the University only
Editors: Erin Saunders, Anne Pouliquen