Talk, Noise, and Silence in Networks: Obstacles to Information Sharing

网络中信息共享的障碍摘要个人之间的关系网络或社会网络有助于传递有关医疗、教育、工作以及新技术、法律和政治思想的重要信息。正规机构不强大的社区尤其依赖这些网络来传递重要信息。然而，这些渠道有时会失灵，而它们失灵的原因还不太清楚。本研究调查了非正式网络中信息流动的障碍，目的是改善沟通，这是生产力、竞争力和增长的重要投入。运用理论和数据，研究阻止人们在非正式网络中共享信息的主要因素，并研究改善信息共享的方法。这项研究的结果将有助于我们理解社会网络在信息传播中的作用，但更重要的是，它展示了如何利用网络传播有关技术、公共卫生、教育、法律、政治和公民生活的信息，以改善社会。本研究结果可应用于多个领域；它们对发达国家和发展中国家都有影响。本研究调查了阻碍有效信息传递和阻止人们从中受益的主要摩擦。本研究分为理论研究、调查研究和实验研究三个维度。从理论上讲，研究将开发模型来解释信息传递的潜在障碍。可能性包括社会规范对提问与低能力相关的问题进行污名化；非正式的制裁与传递信息有关，这些信息后来会导致不好的结果，这反过来又阻碍了提供建议；信息高效的网络可能是公共产品，因此个人没有动力提供它们。在理论发展的基础上，该项目将进行一项调查，以引出印度农村信息共享实践的叙述和定量数据。最后，pi将进行一系列现场实验，旨在测试哪些摩擦是最重要的。拟议的研究在某种意义上是新颖的，因为它是第一个使用不同方法对阻碍信息共享的各种摩擦进行深入分析的研究。除了对信息经济学的贡献之外，这项研究还有几个更广泛的影响。其结果适用于广泛的领域，包括技术采用、卫生、政治、商业管理实践、国际贸易和社会学，仅举几例。

Obstacles to Information Sharing in NetworksAbstractWebs of relationships among individuals, or social networks, help to transmit important information about health care, education, and work, as well as new technologies, laws, and political ideas. Communities where formal institutions are not strong are especially reliant on these networks to carry important information. Yet sometimes these channels fail, and it is not well-understood why they fail. This research investigates the obstacles to information flows in informal networks, with the aim of improving communication, which is an important input into productivity, competitiveness, and growth. Using theory and data, it will investigate the main factors preventing people in informal networks from sharing information, and examine ways to improve information-sharing. The results of this research will help us understand the role of social networks in information transmission but, more importantly, show how networks can be leveraged to spread information about technology, public health, education, the law, politics, and civic life for the betterment of societies. The results of this research are applicable in several fields; they have implications for the developed as well as the developing world.This research investigates the main frictions that impede effective information transmission and deter people from benefitting from it. The research has three dimensions: theoretical, survey-based, and experimental. Theoretically, the research will develop models to explain potential obstacles to information transmission. Possibilities include social norms that stigmatize asking questions that are correlated with low ability; informal sanctions associated with passing along information that is later associated with bad outcomes, which in turn deter giving advice; and the possibility that informationally efficient networks are public goods and therefore individuals have no incentives to provide them. Based on the theoretical development, the project will conduct a survey to elicit both narrative and quantitative data on information sharing practices in rural India. Finally, the PIs will conduct a series of field experiments designed to test which of the frictions are most important. The proposed research is novel in the sense that it is the first to provide an in-depth analysis of various frictions that impede information sharing using a methodologically diverse approach. The research has several broader impacts apart from its contribution to the economics of information. The results are applicable in a wide variety of areas including technology adoption, health, politics, business management practices, international trade, and sociology, just to mention a few.