We study the behavior of for-profit institutions that broadcast reputations to foster trust among market participants. We develop a theoretical model in which buyers and sellers are matched on a platform to engage in transactions involving a moral hazard: sellers can either faithfully deliver goods after receiving payment, or not. Although the buyer does not know a seller's true type, the platform maintains a reputation system that probabilistically assigns binary reputation signals. Buyers make purchase decisions based on reputation signals, which influence the payoffs to sellers who then adapt their type over time. These market dynamics ultimately shape the platform's profit from commissions on sales. Our analysis reveals that platforms inherently have an incentive for rating inflation, driven by the desire to increase commission. This introduces a second layer of moral hazard: the platform's incentive to distort reputations for its own profit. Such distortion is self-limited by the platform's need to maintain enough accuracy that trustworthy sellers remain in the market, without which rational buyers would refrain from purchases altogether. Nonetheless, the optimal strategy for the platform can be to invest in order to reduce signal accuracy. When the platform can freely set commission fees, however, maximum profit may be achieved by costly investment in an accurate reputation system. These findings highlight the intricate tensions between platform incentives and resulting social utility for marketplace participants.

We develop pre-trained estimators for structural econometric models. The estimator uses a neural net to recognize the structural model's parameter from data patterns. Once trained, the estimator can be shared and applied to different datasets at negligible cost and effort. Under sufficient training, the estimator converges to the Bayesian posterior given the data patterns. As an illustration, we construct a pretrained estimator for a sequential search model (available at pnnehome.github.io). Estimation takes only seconds and achieves high accuracy on 12 real datasets. More broadly, pretrained estimators can make structural models much easier to use and more accessible.

Gear Computers Laptops Amazon just unleashed its Cyber Monday laptop deals and it's dropping prices on MacBooks, gaming PCs, and more Whether you need a basic everyday driver or a full-featured gaming PC, Amazon's Cyber Monday laptop can save you cash. We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. A laptop is a big investment. Not only do they typically cost a lot of money, but you're committing a machine you'll stare at while you shop, do homework, remote work, game, and pretty much everything else in your online life. Amazon just dropped its Cyber Monday deals on laptops and these are some of the lowest prices we have seen all year.

Tired of watching your favorite movies through the tinny built-in speakers on your TV? Cyber Monday is the perfect time to upgrade your TV room with a new soundbar, a simple addition that can revolutionize everything you watch. We found a variety of discounts on everything from budget-friendly standalone bars to expansive home theater systems with premium bars at the center. Our favorite soundbar for most people, the Yamaha SR-C30A, hits its lowest price in the last 30 days for Black Friday and Cyber Monday at just under $220 from Amazon . What it lacks in high-end features, it more than makes up for with its super simple and compact setup, and the sound quality is more than good enough for your weekly movie night. It even has a wireless subwoofer, so you get all the benefits of dedicated bass without having to run wires across your living room.

Here are all the best sales on Dyson gadgets our team loves. There's no better time of year to shop for a new vacuum or hair tool than right now, and I've rounded up the best Dyson Cyber Monday deals as we head out of the holiday weekend to help you find the best deal (and gadget!) for you. We cover everything from stick vacuums and air purifiers to hair straighteners and blow-dryers, so nobody knows better than us how powerful Dyson can be in each of these categories. Whether you're looking for a Dyson vacuum that can double as a mop or a hair straightener that can be used on wet hair, Dyson has it all, and packs some of the most powerful motors we've ever seen. Plus, Dyson vacuums tend to last a long time, which not all brands can claim, especially in the world of stick vacuums.

While the Switch 2 itself isn't on sale, you can still find good prices on bundles and accessories. The second generation of Nintendo's beloved hybrid console arrived earlier this year . The Switch 2 has incredible screen quality, backwards compatibility with older Switch games and peripherals, and refined Joy-Con 2 grips (the real necessity of an updated Switch). It's sure to be on many people's Christmas lists, including my own. Sadly the device itself isn't on sale, but there are some bundles and accessories you can shop instead.

Some of our favorite purchases are in stock at Costco, with savings just for members. If you're a Costco member, you're no stranger to a nice discount, it's one of the things that makes that $65 per year worth the cost. Even so, Costco tends to go all out for Black Friday, luring members into the warehouse with the sweet smell of discounts on game consoles, kitchen gadgets, and computers, not to mention $1.50 hot dogs. I've scoured the ads and circled some of the WIRED gear team's favorite stuff for you, leading you straight to savings that would make even the biggest Kirkland doubter jealous. The discounts below are already available, though availability between online delivery and in-warehouse sales my be a little different depending on your location.

We have scoured the entire internet to make a definitive list of the best Black Friday deals on gear we've tested and approved. Black Friday may have been two days ago, but almost all the best bargains are still going strong today. Across the web, you'll find people recommending devices they've never actually used at prices that aren't discounted. WIRED's list of the best Black Friday deals is not like that. Everything on this list has been hands-on tested by a member of our Reviews team and is recommended as worth the money at full price. But you won't pay full price, as all these items are also actually cheaper than you'll find them the rest of the year. For $500, this Dell Windows laptop is actually . The resolution is 2560 by 1600, with decent color accuracy and brightness. The battery life is downright impressive. And the touchpad, which is an area where many budget laptops compromise, actually feels smooth and responsive. This is something no other Windows laptop can pull off. The only catch is that it's a Doorbuster-style sale on Dell's own site, meaning once they sell out at this price, this discount will disappear. The Surface Laptop is the MacBook of the Windows world, and the seventh edition has a brilliant display and great battery life. It's normally priced at $1,000, but you can save 20 percent on Black Friday. Weighing only 2.16 pounds, it's one of the lightest laptops you can buy, without making any major sacrifices to achieve that weight. This incredibly compact, powerful little laptop works just as well for studying, content creation, and work as it does for gaming. Chromebooks under $300 tend to compromise in the display and touchpad. Not the Acer Chromebook Plus 516, and this is a fantastic deal on it. The M4 MacBook Air came out in early 2024, and it's remained the best laptop you can buy. The price has slowly dropped, too.

'They mirror our own impermanence: always in motion, always fading. Magical yet melancholy, the trees offer both a celebration and a gentle farewell, rolled into one.' Evergreen trees are full of symbolism. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Used with permission of Algonquin Books, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. Imagine for a moment if visitors from another planet observed humans buying, selling, and decorating billions of trees every year.

Winter officially arrives on Sunday, December 21. A view of the Geminid meteor shower and stargazing at the Tunnel View of Yosemite National Park on December 14, 2023. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. As one might expect from a month full of long, dark nights, December is a highlight for those with a penchant for looking to the stars . This year, the stargazing on offer promises to be particularly good.