On comparisons of information structures with infinite states

Abstract

Blackwell's theorem on the comparison of information structures is by now sufficiently well-understood for a finite state space, but important gaps remain in the infinite case. While the equivalence of (i) sufficiency and (ii) more-informativeness is known, we present a comprehensive theory that establishes equivalences between these two orders (in both their original and almost all versions) and three additional prior-dependent criteria on general (Polish) state spaces. We consider (iii) Bayesian preference, (iv) convex dominance, and (v) mean-preserving-spread (dilation) for all priors as well as for a given full-support prior. We provide counterexamples to underscore the necessity of the assumptions underlying some of our findings, and offer a generalization of the Hirschleifer-Schlee theorem as an application.