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Secrecy and Safety

Author

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  • Andrew F. Daughety
  • Jennifer F. Reinganum

Abstract

We provide a model showing that the use of confidential settlement as a strategy for a firm facing tort litigation leads to lower average safety of products sold than would occur if the firm were committed to openness. A rational risk-neutral consumer's response in a market, wherein a firm engages in confidential settlements, may be to reduce demand. A firm committed to openness incurs higher liability and R&D costs, though product demand is not diminished. We identify conditions such that, if the cost of credible auditing (to verify openness) is low enough, a firm prefers to eschew confidentiality.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew F. Daughety & Jennifer F. Reinganum, 2005. "Secrecy and Safety," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(4), pages 1074-1091, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:95:y:2005:i:4:p:1074-1091
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/0002828054825673
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Daughety, Andrew F & Reinganum, Jennifer F, 1995. "Product Safety: Liability, R&D, and Signaling," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(5), pages 1187-1206, December.
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    11. Andrew F. Daughety & Jennifer F. Reinganum, 2002. "Informational Externalities in Settlement Bargaining: Confidentiality and Correlated Culpability," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 33(4), pages 587-604, Winter.
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Giuseppe Dari-Mattiacci & Bruno Deffains, 2007. "Uncertainty of Law and the Legal Process," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 163(4), pages 627-656, December.
    2. Leonard J. Mirman & Marc Santugini, 2011. "The Simple Analytics of Price Signaling Quality," Cahiers de recherche 11-04, HEC Montréal, Institut d'économie appliquée.
    3. Daughety, Andrew F. & Reinganum, Jennifer F., 2007. "Competition and confidentiality: Signaling quality in a duopoly when there is universal private information," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 94-120, January.
    4. Janssen, Maarten C.W. & Roy, Santanu, 2010. "Signaling quality through prices in an oligopoly," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 192-207, January.
    5. Catherine Gendron-Saulnier & Marc Santugini, 2013. "The Informational Benefit of Price Discrimination," Cahiers de recherche 13-02, HEC Montréal, Institut d'économie appliquée.
    6. Daher, Wassim & Mirman, Leonard J. & Santugini, Marc, 2012. "Information in Cournot: Signaling with incomplete control," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 361-370.
    7. Belleflamme, Paul & Peitz, Martin, 2014. "Asymmetric information and overinvestment in quality," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 127-143.
    8. Anthony Creane & Thomas D. Jeitschko, 2016. "Endogenous Entry in Markets with Unobserved Quality," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(3), pages 494-519, September.
    9. A. Mitchell Polinsky & Steven Shavell, 2012. "Mandatory Versus Voluntary Disclosure of Product Risks," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 28(2), pages 360-379.
    10. Dan Levin & James Peck & Lixin Ye, 2009. "Quality Disclosure And Competition," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(1), pages 167-196, March.
    11. Andrew F. Daughety & Jennifer F. Reinganum, 2008. "Imperfect competition and quality signalling," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 39(1), pages 163-183, March.
    12. Lam, W., 2015. "Attack-Deterring and Damage-Control Investments in Cybersecurity," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2015023, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    13. Artigot, Mireia & Ganuza, Juan José & Gomez, Fernando & Penalva, Jose, 2018. "Product liability should reward firm transparency," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 160-169.
    14. Ganesh Iyer & Shubhranshu Singh, 2018. "Voluntary Product Safety Certification," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(2), pages 695-714, February.
    15. Choi, Jay Pil & Peitz, Martin, 2018. "You are judged by the company you keep: Reputation leverage in vertically related markets," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 351-379.
    16. Bruno Deffains & Claude Fluet, 2013. "Legal Liability when Individuals Have Moral Concerns," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 29(4), pages 930-955, August.
    17. Baumann, Florian & Friehe, Tim, 2016. "Learning-by-doing in torts: Liability and information about accident technology," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 1-4.
    18. Dessí, Roberta, 2009. "Contractual Execution, Strategic Incompleteness and Venture Capital," CEPR Discussion Papers 7413, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. Andrew F. Daughety & Jennifer F. Reinganum, 2008. "Communicating quality: a unified model of disclosure and signalling," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 39(4), pages 973-989, December.
    20. Lam, Wing Man Wynne, 2014. "Ex Ante and Ex Post Investments in Cybersecurity," TSE Working Papers 14-519, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    21. S. Ho, 2008. "Extracting the information: espionage with double crossing," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 93(1), pages 31-58, February.
    22. Mirman, Leonard J. & Salgueiro, Egas M. & Santugini, Marc, 2014. "Noisy signaling in monopoly," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 504-511.

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    JEL classification:

    • K0 - Law and Economics - - General
    • L1 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance

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