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Bargaining and Fixed Price Offers: How Online Intermediaries are Changing New Car Transactions

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Author Info
Michael A. Arnold () (Department of Economics,University of Delaware)
Thierry Pénard () (Department of Economics,University of Rennes)

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Abstract

The Internet has introduced a variety of online buying services that expand the reach of sellers and reduce search costs for buyers. In markets in which traditional outlets establish prices through bargaining, these online intermediaries have also altered the price setting process. Perhaps the most well known example is Autobytel.com which provides referral services in the automobile market. By using Autobytel, a buyer can obtain a non-negotiable price offer as an alternative to bargaining with a car dealership. To understand the effect of online referral systems on the price setting process, we construct a theoretical model of oligopolistic price competition in which one dealership has an exclusive contract with a referral intermediary. We derive market conditions under which the fixed price offered through the referral system will or will not be lower than offline (bargained) prices. Our model provides theoretical insights relevant to results in the empirical literature addressing the role that Autobytel and other infomediaries play in online markets.

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File URL: http://www.lerner.udel.edu/economics/WorkingPapers/2007/UDWP2007-03.pdf
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by University of Delaware, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers with number 07-03.

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Length: 33 pages
Date of creation: Jan 2007
Date of revision:
Publication status: Forthcoming in Review of Network Economics.
Handle: RePEc:dlw:wpaper:07-03.

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Postal: Purnell Hall, Newark, Delaware 19716
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Web page: http://www.lerner.udel.edu/departments/economics/
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Related research
Keywords: online markets; E-commerce; intermediary; autobytel; pricing;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
D4 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure and Pricing
D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search, Learning, and Information
L19 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Other
L89 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Other

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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. Michael R. Baye & John Morgan & Patrick Scholten, 2006. "Persistent Price Dispersion in Online Markets," Working Papers 2006-12, Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, Department of Business Economics and Public Policy. [Downloadable!]
  2. repec:fth:harver:1517 is not listed on IDEAS
  3. Caillaud, Bernard & Jullien, Bruno, 2001. "Competing cybermediaries," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(4-6), pages 797-808, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Bester, Helmut, 1994. "Price commitment in search markets," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 109-120, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Wang, Ruqu, 1995. "Bargaining versus posted-price selling," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 1747-1764, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Caillaud, Bernard & Jullien, Bruno, 2003. " Chicken & Egg: Competition among Intermediation Service Providers," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 34(2), pages 309-28, Summer.
  7. Karen Clay & Ramayya Krishnan & Eric Wolff, 2001. "Prices and Price Dispersion on the Web: Evidence from the Online Book Industry," NBER Working Papers 8271, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Michael R. Baye & John Morgan, 2001. "Information Gatekeepers on the Internet and the Competitiveness of Homogeneous Product Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(3), pages 454-474, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Varian, Hal R, 1980. "A Model of Sales," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(4), pages 651-59, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Morton, Fiona Scott & Zettelmeyer, Florian & Silva-Risso, Jorge, 2001. "Internet Car Retailing," Journal of Industrial Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 49(4), pages 501-19, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Anindya Ghose & Tridas Mukhopadhyay & Uday Rajan, 2003. "Strategic Benefits of Referral Services," Review of Marketing Science Working Papers 2-2-1022, Berkeley Electronic Press. [Downloadable!]
  12. Michael Smith & Erik Brynjolfsson, 1999. "Frictionless Commerce? A Comparison of Internet and Conventional Retailers," Computing in Economics and Finance 1999 1022, Society for Computational Economics.
  13. Baye, Michael R. & Morgan, John, 2002. "Information gatekeepers and price discrimination on the internet," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 47-51, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Gary Biglaiser, 1993. "Middlemen as Experts," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 24(2), pages 212-223, Summer. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Arnold, Michael A & Lippman, Steven A, 1998. "Posted Prices versus Bargaining in Markets with Asymmetric Information," Economic Inquiry, Oxford University Press, vol. 36(3), pages 450-57, July.
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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. Eric Brousseau & Thierry Penard, 2007. "The Economics of Digital Business Models: A Framework for Analyzing the Economics of Platforms," Review of Network Economics, Concept Economics, vol. 6(2), pages 81-114, June. [Downloadable!]
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