Poster
Distinguishing Distributions When Samples Are Strategically Transformed
Hanrui Zhang · Yu Cheng · Vincent Conitzer

Thu Dec 12th 05:00 -- 07:00 PM @ East Exhibition Hall B + C #223

Often, a principal must make a decision based on data provided by an agent. Moreover, typically, that agent has an interest in the decision that is not perfectly aligned with that of the principal. Thus, the agent may have an incentive to select from or modify the samples he obtains before sending them to the principal. In other settings, the principal may not even be able to observe samples directly; instead, she must rely on signals that the agent is able to send based on the samples that he obtains, and he will choose these signals strategically.

In this paper, we give necessary and sufficient conditions for when the principal can distinguish between agents of good'' andbad'' types, when the type affects the distribution of samples that the agent has access to. We also study the computational complexity of checking these conditions. Finally, we study how many samples are needed.

#### Author Information

##### Vincent Conitzer (Duke University)

Vincent Conitzer is the Sally Dalton Robinson Professor of Computer Science and Professor of Economics at Duke University. He received Ph.D. (2006) and M.S. (2003) degrees in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University, and an A.B. (2001) degree in Applied Mathematics from Harvard University. His research focuses on computational aspects of microeconomics, in particular game theory, mechanism design, voting/social choice, and auctions. This work uses techniques from, and includes applications to, artificial intelligence and multiagent systems. Conitzer has received the Social Choice and Welfare Prize (2014), a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the IJCAI Computers and Thought Award, an NSF CAREER award, the inaugural Victor Lesser dissertation award, an honorable mention for the ACM dissertation award, and several awards for papers and service at the AAAI and AAMAS conferences. He has also been named a Kavli Fellow, a Bass Fellow, a Sloan Fellow, and one of AI's Ten to Watch. Conitzer and Preston McAfee are the founding Editors-in-Chief of the ACM Transactions on Economics and Computation (TEAC).