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Econometrica Vol. 89 No. 5 2021

A Model of Scientific Communication

Isaiah Andrews1,2; Jesse M. Shapiro3,2

1 Department of Economics, Harvard University · 2 NBER · 3 Department of Economics; Brown University

open access

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.

DOI
10.3982/ecta18155
Volume
89
Issue
5
Pages
2117-2142
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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