CEU Economic Seminar Series: Collective Progress: Dynamics of Exit Waves

Abstract

We study a model of collective search by teams. Discoveries beget discoveries and cor-related search results are governed by a Brownian path, with its variance—the search scope—jointly controlled by members. Agents individually choose when to cease search and implementtheir best discovery. We show the emergence of endogenous exit waves, whereby possibly het-erogeneous agents cease search all at once. Search scope is constant and independent of searchoutcomes as long as no member has left; it declines after each exit wave. We also characterizethe optimal team search and illustrate inefficiencies equilibrium search entails, in terms of bothsearch efforts and duration.

https://lyariv.mycpanel.princeton.edu/papers/TeamSearch.pdf