I thank Ben Polak for his invaluable guidance and support throughout all phases of this project. I am also thankful to Stephen Morris, David Pearce, an editor and two anonymous referees for their comments and suggestions. I have also benefited from conversations with Michael Boozer, Ettore Damiano, Nick de Roos, Jason Draho, Ricky Lam and Mario Simon.
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What Have you Done for me Lately? Release of Information and Strategic Manipulation of Memories†
Article first published online: 5 APR 2007
DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0297.2007.02019.x
Additional Information
How to Cite
Sarafidis, Y. (2007), What Have you Done for me Lately? Release of Information and Strategic Manipulation of Memories. The Economic Journal, 117: 307–326. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0297.2007.02019.x
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Publication History
- Issue published online: 5 APR 2007
- Article first published online: 5 APR 2007
- Submitted: 19 May 2004 Accepted: 26 November 2005
- Abstract
- Article
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- Cited By
How should a rational agent (politician/employee/advertiser) release information in order to manipulate the memory imperfections of his forgetful assessor (electorate/supervisor/consumer)? This article attempts to answer this question using a memory model based on the principles of recency, similarity and repetition. I show that the problem of a rational agent who releases information to a forgetful assessor can be modelled as a standard dynamic optimisation problem and we describe the properties of the optimal profile for releasing information. The theoretical results are applicable in a wide range of social and economic contexts, such as political campaigns, employee performance evaluations and advertising strategies.