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Disclosure and Information Transfer in Signaling Games

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Justin P. Bruner
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Abstract

One of the major puzzles in evolutionary theory is how communication and information transfer are possible when the interests of those involved conflict. Perfect information transfer seems inevitable if there are physical constraints, which limit the signal repertoire of an individual, effectively making bluffing an impossibility. This, I argue, is incorrect. Unfakeable signals by no means guarantee information transfer. I demonstrate the existence of a so-called pooling equilibrium and discuss why the traditional argument for perfect information transfer (Frank’s full disclosure principle) does not hold in all cases. Additionally, I demonstrate that deception is possible at equilibrium despite the fact that signals are impossible to fake.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 82 , Issue 4 , October 2015 , pp. 649 - 666
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

†

Thanks to Kim Sterelny, Brian Skyrms, Simon Huttegger, Hannah Rubin, Luke Holman, Ben Fraser, and Chris Hunter-Lean for feedback and encouragement. I would also like to thank the participants of the New Zealand Association for Philosophy 2014 in Christchurch, the participants of the Social Dynamics Seminar at University of California, Irvine, and two anonymous referees. I am especially grateful for the comments of an anonymous referee who helped me better understand the relationship between indices and the notion of certification in economics.

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