The federal government delegates various aspects of financial market regulation to self-regulatory organizations (SROs) such as the New York Stock Exchange and the National Association of Securities Dealers. We model one regulatory task of an SRO, the enforcement of rules designed to prevent the...

We propose a model of the phenomenon of persuasion. We argue that individual beliefs evolve in a way that overweights the opinions and information of individuals whom they "listen to" relative to other individuals. Such agents can be understood to be acting as though they believe they listen to...