<p>I'm a beginner in mechanism design. I learned that 'a (direct) mechanism is truthful if an agent truthfully reveals his/her type.' Then, how can we define a truthful indirect mechanism? I'm not sure how to do that because the information revealed in an indirect mechanism can be any message, which is in general different from the underlying type.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-04T13:44:39.043Z
What is an indirect mechanism? And what makes you think one can define truthful such mechanisms?
Michael Greinecker
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-08T10:37:39.587Z
Not sure if it is indirect, when players are directly reporting their true type. Indirect would be e.g. in the english auction, where agents keep bidding until they reach their valuation or the auction ends before and they win with a lower bid. Regards,
Ergie
Ergie Sergie
<game-theory><bayesian-game><mechanism-design><dominant-strategy>
The concept of 'truthfulness' and 'indirect' in mechanism design
John Wong
# The concept of 'truthfulness' and 'indirect' in mechanism design

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-07-03)

I'm a beginner in mechanism design. I learned that 'a (direct) mechanism is truthful if an agent truthfully reveals his/her type.' Then, how can we define a truthful indirect mechanism? I'm not sure how to do that because the information revealed in an indirect mechanism can be any message, which is in general different from the underlying type.

Thanks!

**Tags:** game-theory, bayesian-game, mechanism-design, dominant-strategy

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: What is an indirect mechanism? And what makes you think one can define truthful such mechanisms?  
> **username_2**: Not sure if it is indirect, when players are directly reporting their true type. Indirect would be e.g. in the english auction, where agents keep bidding until they reach their valuation or the auction ends before and they win with a lower bid. Regards, username_2  

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