Search Games with Asymmetric Information

(joint with Gilad Bavly and Amnon Schreiber)

Abstract: We analyse games in which players search for a hidden prize, where each player has private information regarding the location of the prize. We present conditions on the game’s payoff that are sufficient for the game to admit a socially-optimal equilibrium, and we demonstrate the necessity of these conditions. Next, we present lower bounds for the optimal social payoff that can be obtained in these games. The results have interesting implications for innovation contests and R&D races.