Signalling models are very important in Singapore society. These models identify conditions under which people send costly signals to reveal information or their type.

One of the most important forms of signalling in Singapore are academic qualifications, with the best corporate jobs going to folks with the highest Latin honours or 1st Class qualifications. This is in spite of the fact that most engineers on the job are unlikely to be made to solve calculus problems as part of regular work.

The simplest model works by setting the cost of attaining a qualification along with its benefits which are distributed to equally to anyone who earns that qualification. A stronger candidate will expend fewer resources to obtain the benefit, so they will strive hard to earn it. A weaker candidate will have to pay a price that is too high to gain the qualification so they may simply just skip it altogether.