The search for good outcomes–be it government policies, technological breakthroughs, or lasting purchases–takes time and effort. At times, the decision process is unconstrained: an individual seeking a well-priced product determines her search scope and time as she wishes. At times, search is constrained, either through institutions or cognitive limitations. We consider retrospective search in both settings: an agent chooses the search scope and time, selecting the best observed outcome upon stopping. We analyze the impacts of constraints when observed samples are independent and correlated over time.
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