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Riding free on the signals of others

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  • Alexander-Cook, Kim
  • Bernhardt, Dan
  • Roberts, Joanne

Abstract

This paper looks at the incentives to free-ride on the information signaling of others and shows how this can lead to delay in productive activity and to a cascade of activity once information is signaled. In the presence of increasing returns to scale to a profitable project, an initial pioneer may have to incur short-term losses to signal the opportunity to others. Agents may prefer to defer entry in the hope that others will incur those losses and thereby convey the information. Free-riding incentives can be so strong that profitable projects may not be undertaken. Free-riding is worsened when potential entrants must first acquire a costless signal about the project, and this information acquisition is observed: not acquiring the information commits and agent not to incur the entry costs.
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Suggested Citation

  • Alexander-Cook, Kim & Bernhardt, Dan & Roberts, Joanne, 1998. "Riding free on the signals of others," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 25-43, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:67:y:1998:i:1:p:25-43
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    1. Bikhchandani, Sushil & Hirshleifer, David & Welch, Ivo, 1992. "A Theory of Fads, Fashion, Custom, and Cultural Change in Informational Cascades," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(5), pages 992-1026, October.
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    4. Bulow, Jeremy & Klemperer, Paul, 1994. "Rational Frenzies and Crashes," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(1), pages 1-23, February.
    5. Bliss, Christopher & Nalebuff, Barry, 1984. "Dragon-slaying and ballroom dancing: The private supply of a public good," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1-2), pages 1-12, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jörn Hendrich Block & Thorsten Staak & Philipp Tilleßen, 2007. "Ist das staatliche Eingreifen ins Gründungsgeschehen theoretisch legitimiert?," FEMM Working Papers 07007, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Faculty of Economics and Management.
    2. Comino, Stefano, 2006. "Entry and exit with information externalities," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 85-99, May.
    3. Marc Santugini, 2020. "On the consumer problem under an informational externality," Economic Theory Bulletin, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 8(1), pages 149-161, April.
    4. Robin Boadway & Jean-François Tremblay, 2003. "Public Economics and Startup Entrepreneurs," CESifo Working Paper Series 877, CESifo.
    5. Pierdzioch Christian & Stadtmann Georg, 2010. "Herdenverhalten von Wechselkursprognostikern? / Herd Behavior of Exchange Rate Forecasters?," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 230(4), pages 436-453, August.
    6. Hikmet Gunay, 2008. "Strategic delay in market entry," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(3), pages 998-1014, August.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design

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