Delegation with a Reciprocal Agent
研究了委托人如何向信息更充分的代理人授权项目选择，发现代理人互惠程度与授权范围的关系取决于双方利益冲突程度，并用德国社会经济面板数据提供了支持证据。
Abstract We consider a model in which a principal may delegate the choice of a project to a better informed agent. The preferences of the agent and the principal about which project should be undertaken may be discordant. Moreover, the agent benefits from being granted more discretion in the project choice and may be motivated by reciprocity. We find that the relationship between the agent’s reciprocity and discretion crucially depends on the conflict of interest with the principal. When preferences are more congruent (discordant), discretion is broader (more limited) if the agent is more reciprocal. Hence, reciprocity mitigates (exacerbates) a mild (severe) conflict of interest. We also present supportive evidence for the predictions of our model using the German Socio-Economic Panel dataset.