Screening (economics)
Etymology
From "screen" (via Old French "escren"), in the sense of sifting or filtering. Its technical meaning was developed in the economics of information in the 1970s, notably in the work of Joseph Stiglitz, alongside the study of markets with asymmetric knowledge.
noun · /SKREEN-ing/
In economics, an action taken by the less-informed party to a transaction to induce the better-informed party to reveal hidden information.
What it names
One solution to information gaps — the uninformed side designing a test that sorts the other side — as a counterpart to the informed side volunteering proof.
Example
Offering several insurance plans at different prices is screening: the choice customers make reveals how risky they secretly are.
Related idea
The mirror image of signaling, in which the informed party proactively demonstrates its quality — a job seeker earning a degree; in screening, the uninformed party sets up the mechanism that draws the information out. Both are responses to information asymmetry from opposite sides.
noun · /SKREEN-ing/
The testing of apparently healthy people to detect a disease or risk before symptoms appear.
What it names
preventive population testing
Example
Routine screening caught the tumor while it was still small.
Related idea
Screening aims to find disease before even a prodrome — before the body gives any early warning at all.
noun · /SKREEN-ing/
A showing of a film to an audience.
What it names
a showing of a movie
Example
The festival held a midnight screening of the newly restored classic.
Related idea
A packed screening is often where a film’s fandom first discovers it is not alone.