Responders versus Non-responders: A New Perspective on Heterogeneity.

This paper considers the implications of a particular type of heterogeneity--one which characterizes a large number of economic environments, but that has not received any systematic treatment in the literature. The authors refer to this heterogeneity as responders versus nonresponders. The paper begins by providing a general framework for the analysis of environments characterized by this heterogeneity and then shows how this framework can be used to help understand a wide variety of economic environments. Particular applications considered are, near rationality, network externalities, and models of reputation. Copyright 1991 by Royal Economic Society.