EconBase
← All papers

Testing for Monotone Equilibrium Strategies in Games of Incomplete Information

Yu-Chin Hsu, Tong Li, Chu-An Liu, Hidenori Takahashi

arXiv 8 Apr 2026 · Econometrics

arXiv:2604.06643 · PDF · DOI · OpenAlex · Extracted main text

Abstract

This paper develops a unified framework for testing monotonicity of Bayesian Nash equilibrium strategies in unobserved types in games of incomplete information. We show that, under symmetric independent private types, monotonicity of differentiable equilibrium strategies is equivalent to monotonicity of a quasi-inverse strategy identified from observed actions. This allows the problem to be reformulated as testing a countable set of moment inequalities involving unconditional expectations. We propose a Cramer-von Mises-type statistic with bootstrap critical values. The method accommodates covariates and game heterogeneity. Monte Carlo simulations demonstrate finite-sample performance, and an application to procurement auctions illustrates cartel detection.

Citation extraction

53
references
119
in-text mentions
53
distinct cited
8
self-citations
14,695
main-text words

appendix boundary found by appendix_command · 60% of the source is main text. Read the extracted text to check this.

Most heavily cited references

The works this paper leans on most, across its whole bibliography — not restricted to papers in our corpus. Ranked by composite intensity, which combines how often a work is mentioned, how many sections mention it, and how much of that falls in the main text rather than the appendix.

ReferenceIntensityMentionsSectionsMain text
1Guerre, Emmanuel and Perrigne, Isabelle and Vuong, Quang (2000) Optimal Nonparametric Estimation of First-Price Auctions1.00093100%
2Aaltio, Aapo and Buri, Riku and Jokelainen, Antto and Lundberg, Johan (2025) Complementary bidding and cartel detection: Evidence from Nordic asphalt markets1.00053100%
3Brendan Kline (2025) Identification of Incomplete Information Games in Monotone Equilibrium0.87462100%
4Athey, Susan (2001) Single Crossing Properties and the Existence of Pure Strategy Equilibria in Games of Incomplete Information0.87452100%
5Liu, Nianqing and Vuong, Quang (2021) Nonparametric Tests for Monotonicity of Strategies in Games of Incomplete Information0.87452100%
6Yu-Chin Hsu and Chu-An Liu and Xiaoxia Shi (2019) Testing Generalized Regression Monotonicity self0.8558462%
7Hsu, Yu-Chin and Shen, Shu (2021) Testing Monotonicity of Conditional Treatment Effects under Regression Discontinuity Designs self0.8229456%
8Larsen, Bradley J. and Zhang, Anthony Lee (2018) A Mechanism Design Approach to Identification and Estimation0.81142100%
9Haile, Philip A.\ and Hong, Han and Shum, Matthew (2003) Nonparametric Tests for Common Values at First-Price Sealed-Bid Auctions0.7373367%
10Ma, Jun and Marmer, Vadim and Shneyerov, Artyom and Xu, Pai (2021) Monotonicity-Constrained Nonparametric Estimation and Inference for First-Price Auctions0.7373367%

Showing the top 10 of 53 scored citations.