Microeconomic Theory Brown Bag: Voluntary Participation in Disclosure Devices

Daniel Hermosillo is presenting at Wesley W. Posvar Hall on Tuesday, October 20, as part of the Microeconomic Theory Brown Bag series. He's from the University of Pittsburgh, and the talk is titled Voluntary Participation in Disclosure Devices.

If you're not familiar with the format, a brown bag is exactly what it sounds like: a midday session where people bring their own lunch and listen in. It's a more casual way to hear new research before it's fully polished and published, and it's usually open to anyone interested in the topic. The talk falls under microeconomic theory, so it's going to be on the technical side of the house.

As for the subject, Voluntary Participation in Disclosure Devices deals with how people choose whether or not to use mechanisms that reveal information. In economics, a disclosure device is a tool that lets a person signal something about themselves or their situation—like a certification or a specific type of report—without necessarily revealing every detail. The 'voluntary participation' part is where the real question lies: why would someone choose to use one of these devices, and what happens when they don't? It's the kind of thing that touches on how information is shared and how that affects decisions in a market.

It's a one-hour session, running from 12 PM to 1 PM in room 4940 of Wesley W. Posvar Hall on the University of Pittsburgh campus. If you've got a lunch break and a curiosity for how information and incentives work, it's a good way to spend an hour on a Tuesday.