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The Dark Side of Competitive Pressure

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Author Info
Jason G. Cummins () (Brevan Howard, Inc.)
Ingmar Nyman () (City University of New York)

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Abstract

When firms are better informed than their consumers---for example, in many service industries firms know more than their customers about the benefits of different alternatives---competitive pressure may inhibit efficiency because it forces firms to cater excessively to consumers' opinions. We develop this idea in a simple model of investment management in which agency problems are absent. We show that competitive pressure may prevent firms from using information that contradicts consumers' prior beliefs. In particular, the inefficiency occurs when the firms' informational advantage is small, and may, in fact, be exacerbated by making the consumer better informed. By contrast, the inefficiency shrinks with the number of firms. Ordering information: This article can be ordered from https://pubs3.rand.org/cgi-bin/rje/pdf.cgi.

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Publisher Info
Article provided by The RAND Corporation in its journal RAND Journal of Economics.

Volume (Year): 36 (2005)
Issue (Month): 2 (Summer)
Pages: 361-397
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Handle: RePEc:rje:randje:v:36:y:2005:2:p:361-397

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Related research
Keywords: Production and Organizations: General Market Structure and Pricing: General Asymmetric and Private Information s Competition; Information Aggregation; Incentives;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D20 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - General
D40 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure and Pricing - - - General
D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Edward P. Lazear & Sherwin Rosen, 1981. "Rank-Order Tournaments as Optimum Labor Contracts," NBER Working Papers 0401, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Heidhues, Paul & Lagerlof, Johan, 2003. "Hiding information in electoral competition," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 48-74, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Stephen Morris, 2001. "Political Correctness," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 109(2), pages 231-265, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Eaton, B Curtis & Lipsey, Richard G, 1975. "The Principle of Minimum Differentiation Reconsidered: Some New Developments in the Theory of Spatial Competition," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 42(1), pages 27-49, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Caplin, Andrew & Nalebuff, Barry, 1991. "Aggregation and Imperfect Competition: On the Existence of Equilibrium," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 59(1), pages 25-59, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Tirole, Jean, 1991. "Collusion and the Theory of Organizations," IDEI Working Papers 9, Institut d'Économie Industrielle (IDEI), Toulouse.
  7. Scharfstein, David S & Stein, Jeremy C, 1990. "Herd Behavior and Investment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(3), pages 465-79, June.
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  8. Lazear, Edward P, 1989. "Pay Equality and Industrial Politics," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(3), pages 561-80, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Milgrom, Paul R, 1988. "Employment Contracts, Influence Activities, and Efficient Organization Design," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(1), pages 42-60, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Simon Grant & Stephen King & Ben Polak, 1995. "Information Externalities, Share-Price Based Incentives and Managerial Behaviour," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 1107, Cowles Foundation, Yale University. [Downloadable!]
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Ingmar Nyman & Jason G. Cummins, 2007. "“Yes-Men in Tournaments," Hunter College Department of Economics Working Papers 417, Hunter College: Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  2. Ingmar Nyman & Matthew Baker, 2008. "Conformity in search markets," Hunter College Department of Economics Working Papers 422, Hunter College: Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  3. Matthew Baker & Ingmar Nyman, 2009. "Competitive Pressure and Lying in Search Markets," Hunter College Department of Economics Working Papers 426, Hunter College: Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  4. Ingmar Nyman & Jason G. Cummins, 2005. "Information Management in Rank-Order Tournaments," Hunter College Department of Economics Working Papers 413, Hunter College: Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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This page was last updated on 2009-11-13.

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