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On the role of verifiability and commitment in credence goods markets

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  • Fong, Yuk-fai
  • Liu, Ting
  • Wright, Donald J.

Abstract

A client has a problem, but does not know whether it is serious or minor. She consults an expert who can correctly diagnose and fix her problem. This paper characterizes the equilibrium pricing and recommendation strategies of an expert under the assumptions that i) the type of treatment is verifiable by the client, ii) the client has the option of rejecting any treatment recommendation, and iii) the expert is not liable for the outcome of the treatment. It is found, for any parameter configuration, that there exist equilibria in which the expert makes fraudulent recommendations resulting in inefficient treatment. The market outcome is compared with that under an alternative market environment in which the expert is liable for treatment outcome but the type of treatment performed is non-verifiable. It is shown that for some parameter configurations the equilibrium is more efficient when liability is in place than when the treatment is verifiable. These findings stand in sharp contrast to the received wisdom that the market outcome under verifiability of treatment is efficient while the market outcome under liability for outcome is not. Finally, this paper shows that the existence of some honest experts may induce more fraudulent behavior by opportunistic experts.

Suggested Citation

  • Fong, Yuk-fai & Liu, Ting & Wright, Donald J., 2014. "On the role of verifiability and commitment in credence goods markets," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 118-129.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:indorg:v:37:y:2014:i:c:p:118-129
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijindorg.2014.08.004
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    6. Dulleck, Uwe & Kerschbamer, Rudolf, 2009. "Experts vs. discounters: Consumer free-riding and experts withholding advice in markets for credence goods," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 15-23, January.
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    8. Emons, Winand, 2001. "Credence goods monopolists," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 19(3-4), pages 375-389, March.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Balafoutas, Loukas & Fornwagner, Helena & Kerschbamer, Rudolf & Sutter, Matthias & Tverdostup, Maryna, 2020. "Diagnostic Uncertainty and Insurance Coverage in Credence Goods Markets," IZA Discussion Papers 13848, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Helmut Bester & Matthias Dahm, 2018. "Credence Goods, Costly Diagnosis and Subjective Evaluation," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(611), pages 1367-1394, June.
    3. Ben Greiner & Le Zhang & Chengxiang Tang, 2017. "Separation of prescription and treatment in health care markets: A laboratory experiment," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(S3), pages 21-35, December.
    4. Ahlin, Christian & Kim, In Kyung & Kim, Kyoo il, 2021. "Who commits fraud? evidence from korean gas stations," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    5. Chen, Yongmin & Li, Jianpei & Zhang, Jin, 2017. "Liability in Markets for Credence Goods," MPRA Paper 80206, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Bester, Helmut & Ouyang, Yaofu, 2018. "Optimal procurement of a credence good under limited liability," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 96-129.
    7. Fong, Yuk-fai & Liu, Ting, 2018. "Liability and reputation in credence goods markets," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 35-39.
    8. Balafoutas, Loukas & Kerschbamer, Rudolf, 2020. "Credence goods in the literature: What the past fifteen years have taught us about fraud, incentives, and the role of institutions," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(C).
    9. Martin Obradovits & Philipp Plaickner, 2020. "Searching for Treatment," Working Papers 2020-18, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    10. Loukas Balafoutas & Helena Fornwagner & Rudolf Kerschbamer & Matthias Sutter & Maryna Tverdostup, 2023. "Serving Consumers in an Uncertain World: A Credence Goods Experiment," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 258, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    11. Li, Jianpei & Ouyang, Yaofu, 2016. "Expert Costs and the Role of Verifiability," MPRA Paper 74390, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Yongmin Chen & Jianpei Li & Jin Zhang, 2022. "Efficient Liability In Expert Markets," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 63(4), pages 1717-1744, November.
    13. Bertrand Crettez & Régis Deloche & Marie‐Hélène Jeanneret‐Crettez, 2020. "A demand‐induced overtreatment model with heterogeneous experts," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 22(5), pages 1713-1733, September.
    14. Xiaoxiao Hu & Haoran Lei, 2023. "Information transmission in monopolistic credence goods markets," Papers 2303.13295, arXiv.org, revised Apr 2023.
    15. Katharina Momsen & Markus Ohndorf, 2022. "Seller Opportunism in Credence Good Markets – The Role of Market Conditions," Working Papers 2022-10, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    16. Ouyang, Yaofu, 2016. "Credence Goods, Risk Averse, and Optimal Insurance," MPRA Paper 70392, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Yuk‐Fai Fong & Xiaoxiao Hu & Ting Liu & Xiaoxuan Meng, 2020. "Using Customer Service to Build Clients’ Trust," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(1), pages 136-155, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Credence goods; Verifiability; Commitment; Efficiency;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D4 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design

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