Yating Yuan

Associate Tutor

Hi! I am a third year PhD student (5th year in the program) at the Department of Economics, University of Warwick. Here is my personal websiteLink opens in a new window.

My supervisors are Motty Perry and Jacob Glazer.

I'm interested in

• Microeconomic theory
• Social learning
• Information disclosure

Research

Versioning with observational learning

The rise of popular online platforms, e.g. Kickstarter, has made observational learning a widespread phenomenon in various marketplaces. It is not uncommon in these markets for sellers to launch a new product with different versions. Yet we do not have a theoretical model to analyze the seller's pricing and versioning incentive in such markets as well as the impact on information aggregation. This paper explores how observational learning alone can incentivize a monopolist to sell different versions. The dynamic learning process sheds new light on the multi-version policy beyond traditional explanations. Furthermore, the quality of consumers’ private information plays a crucial role in shaping two distinct selling strategies. In a market with noisy private signals, the seller provides a single cheap premium version; with precise signals, the seller prefers multiple versions.