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Credence Goods Markets with Conscientious and Selfish Experts

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Author Info
Ting Liu () (Boston University, Department of Economics)

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Abstract

I study credence goods markets when there are both sel sh and conscientious experts. The selfish expert is a pro t maximizer. The conscientious expert wants to maximize pro t and repair the consumer's problem. There are two classes of equilibria: uniform-price equilibria and nonuniform-price equilibria. A consumer cannot infer the expert's type from his price list in a uniform-price equilibrium but can do that in a nonuniform-price equilibrium. When the fraction of the conscientious expert is small, the sel sh expert will be honest about the severity of the consumer's problem. When the fraction of the conscientious expert is large, the sel sh expert will cheat the consumer; overcharging the consumer whenever he o ers to repair the problem. Finally, more conscientious experts may result in a larger social loss.

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Paper provided by Boston University - Department of Economics in its series Boston University - Department of Economics - Working Papers Series with number WP2006-058.

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Length: 33 pages
Date of creation: Dec 2006
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Handle: RePEc:bos:wpaper:wp2006-058

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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. Winand Emons, 1997. "Credence Goods Monopolists," Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics, Working Paper Series 1060, Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Asher Wolinsky, 1993. "Competition in a Market for Informed Experts' Services," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 24(3), pages 380-398, Autumn. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Winand Emons, 1994. "Credence Goods and Fraudulent Experts," Diskussionsschriften dp9402, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft.
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  4. Darby, Michael R & Karni, Edi, 1973. "Free Competition and the Optimal Amount of Fraud," Journal of Law & Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(1), pages 67-88, April.
  5. Lindbeck, Assar & Weibull, Jorgen W, 1988. "Altruism and Time Consistency: The Economics of Fait Accompli," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 96(6), pages 1165-82, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Uwe Dulleck, 2000. "Where Are The Problems with Credence Goods?," Econometric Society World Congress 2000 Contributed Papers 1441, Econometric Society. [Downloadable!]
  7. Yuk-fai Fong, 2005. "When Do Experts Cheat and Whom Do They Target?," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 36(1), pages 113-130, Spring.
  8. Ingela Alger & Ching-to Albert Ma, 2001. "Moral Hazard, Insurance, and Some Collusion," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 496, Boston College Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  9. Ingela Alger & François Salanié, 2006. "A Theory of Fraud and Overtreatment in Experts Markets," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 15(4), pages 853-881, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Rabin, Matthew, 1993. "Incorporating Fairness into Game Theory and Economics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(5), pages 1281-1302, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Ingela Alger & Francois Salanie, 2001. "A Theory of Fraud and Over-Consumption in Experts Markets," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 495, Boston College Department of Economics, revised 09 Nov 2004. [Downloadable!]
  12. Timothy J. Feddersen & Thomas W. Gilligan, 2001. "Saints and Markets: Activists and the Supply of Credence Goods," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 10(1), pages 149-171, 03. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Ingela Alger & Régis Renault, 2007. "Screening Ethics when Honest Agents Keep their Word," Economic Theory, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 291-311, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Pitchik, Carolyn & Schotter, Andrew, 1987. "Honesty in a Model of Strategic Information Transmission," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(5), pages 1032-36, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Roland Benabou & Jean Tirole, 2003. "Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 70(3), pages 489-520, 07. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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