Gatekeeping under Asymmetric Information

I model access to influence as a two-sided matching market between a continuum of experts and a finite number of gatekeepers under sequential directed search. Real-world examples include academic publishing, venture capitalism or political agenda setting. Uniqueness of the resulting equilibrium allows for clear-cut predictions: First, sorting may fail in equilibrium. Second, gatekeepers may have an incentive to add artificial delay. Such red tape occurs in equilibrium – and only at the top – when the impact of two gatekeepers is very different. Third, artificial delay may improve equilibrium sorting and thereby enhance welfare. Finally, the bottom gatekeeper may endogenously specialize on a quality-irrelevant attribute