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Many-to-Many Matching and Price Discrimination

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  • Renato Gomes
  • Alessandro Pavan

Abstract

We study centralized many-to-many matching in markets where agents have private information about (vertical) characteristics that determine match values. Our analysis reveals how matching patterns reflect cross-subsidization between sides. Agents are endogenously partitioned into consumers and inputs. At the optimum, the costs of procuring agents-inputs are compensated by the gains from agents-consumers. We show how such cross-subsidization can be achieved through matching rules that have a simple threshold structure and are assortative in the weak-order (set inclusion) sense. We then deliver testable predictions relating the optimal matching rules and price schedules to the distribution of the agents’ characteristics. The analysis has implications for the design of large matching intermediaries, such as advertising exchanges, business-to-business platforms, and online job-matching agencies.

Suggested Citation

  • Renato Gomes & Alessandro Pavan, 2014. "Many-to-Many Matching and Price Discrimination," Discussion Papers 1578, Northwestern University, Center for Mathematical Studies in Economics and Management Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:nwu:cmsems:1578
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    vertical matching markets; many-to-many matching; asymmetric information; mechanism design; cross-subsidization JEL Classification: D82;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

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

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