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Authors
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Philipps-Universität Marburg
Abstract
We study a setting in which one or two agents conduct research on
behalf of a principal. The agents' success depends on effort and the
choice of a research technology that is uncertain with respect to its
quality. A single agent has no incentive to deviate from the principal's
preferred technology choice. In the multiagent-setting researchers pursue
individual rather than overall success which yields a preference for
the most promising technology. We show that a mechanism that deters
this bias towards mainstream research always entails an effciency
loss if researchers are risk-averse. Our results suggest that there is too
little diversity in delegated research.
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This item has been published with the following license: In Copyright