Seminars topic: The exchange of personal information about absent third parties is ubiquitous in human societies. However, it remains a puzzle why people would voluntarily share reputation information about others. The current article proposes a self-sustaining cycle of reputation system and uses an agent-based model to assess it. We argue that the sharing of reputation information is the joint consequence of the reputation dissemination and selfishness deterrence functions of reputation sharing. Specifically, the dissemination of information about individuals’ reputations leads more individuals to condition their behavior on others’ reputations. This induces individuals to behave more cooperatively toward reputation sharers in order to maintain their reputations. As a result, reputation sharers proliferate in the population. The prevalence of reputation sharing further facilitates the reputation system and cooperation, which becomes a self-sustaining cycle.

Scholars Background: Xinyue PAN is an Assistant Professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen. She gained her Ph.D. degree in psychology from The University of Maryland. Before that, she earned two bachelor’s degrees in psychology and in economics from Peking University. Her research uses computational and empirical methods to understand the formation, maintenance, and change of social norms.

Time and Location: May 30, 2025 (Friday) | 10:30 (GMT+8), Room A523 (School of Management)

Language: Bilingual (ENG & CN)