Back to Glossary

Signaling

Action taken by the better-informed party in an information asymmetry to credibly reveal information the less-informed party cannot directly observe — a used-car seller offering a warranty, a peacock growing an elaborate tail, a job candidate completing a demanding degree. Effective signaling depends on the signal being costly enough that a lower-quality sender could not afford to fake it.

Learn about this term

Related Terms

Vocabulary from all courses. Terms are cross-referenced to show where each concept appears.