Learning Through Imitation: an Experiment
48 Pages Posted: 27 Apr 2022
There are 2 versions of this paper
Learning Through Imitation: an Experiment
Learning Through Imitation: An Experiment
Date Written: April 13, 2022
Abstract
We compare how well agents aggregate information in two repeated social learning environments. In the first setting agents have access to a public data set. In the second they have access to the same data, and also to the past actions of others. Despite the fact that actions contain no additional payoff relevant information, and despite potential herd behavior, free riding and information overload issues, observing and imitating the actions of others leads agents to take the optimal action more often in the second setting. We also investigate the effect of group size, as well as a setting in which agents observe private data and others’ actions.
Keywords: social learning, repeated game, laboratory experiment
JEL Classification: D83, C92
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation