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The costs of free entry: an empirical study of real estate agents in Greater Boston

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  • Panle Jia Barwick
  • Parag A. Pathak

Abstract

type="main"> This article studies the consequences of fixed commissions and low entry barriers in Greater Boston's real estate brokerage industry from 1998–2007. We find that agent entry reduces average service quality and use a dynamic empirical model to study the inefficiency in the current market structure. To accommodate a large state space, we approximate the value function using sieves and impose the Bellman equation as an equilibrium constraint. Our results suggest that a 50% cut in commissions would result in 40% fewer agents, social savings that amount to 23% of industry revenue, and 73% more transactions for the average agent.

Suggested Citation

  • Panle Jia Barwick & Parag A. Pathak, 2015. "The costs of free entry: an empirical study of real estate agents in Greater Boston," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 46(1), pages 103-145, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:randje:v:46:y:2015:i:1:p:103-145
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    Cited by:

    1. Seung‐Hyun Hong, 2022. "Real estate agents' influence on housing search," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(3), pages 563-582, April.
    2. Victor Aguirregabiria & Allan Collard-Wexler & Stephen P. Ryan, 2021. "Dynamic Games in Empirical Industrial Organization," Papers 2109.01725, arXiv.org, revised Sep 2021.
    3. Zhaohui Li & Qiang Li & Hua Sun & Li Sun, 2022. "Diffused effort, asset heterogeneity, and real estate brokerage," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 50(3), pages 707-742, September.
    4. Victor Aguirregabiria & Mathieu Marcoux, 2021. "Imposing equilibrium restrictions in the estimation of dynamic discrete games," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 12(4), pages 1223-1271, November.
    5. Edward Kung, 2020. "Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Housing," NBER Working Papers 26886, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Fahim Ullah & Samad M. E. Sepasgozar, 2020. "Key Factors Influencing Purchase or Rent Decisions in Smart Real Estate Investments: A System Dynamics Approach Using Online Forum Thread Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-36, May.
    7. In Kyung Kim & Yoon-Jin Lee & Young-Ro Yoon, 2017. "Sequential Supply Decision and Market Efficiency: Theory and Evidence," Working Papers 1703, Nazarbayev University, Department of Economics, revised Mar 2017.
    8. An-Hsiang Liu & Ralph Siebert, 2020. "The Competitive Effects of Declining Entry Costs over Time: Evidence from the Static Random Access Memory Market," CESifo Working Paper Series 8552, CESifo.
    9. Myrto Kalouptsidi, 2014. "Detection and Impact of Industrial Subsidies: The Case of World Shipbuilding," NBER Working Papers 20119, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Jullien, Bruno & Rysman, Marc, 2021. "Two-sided Markets, Pricing, and Network Effects," CEPR Discussion Papers 16480, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. Mateusz Mysliwski & Fabio M. Sanches & Daniel Silva Junior & Sorawoot Srisuma, 2020. "The Welfare Effects of Promotional Fees," CeMMAP working papers CWP35/20, Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    12. Derek Stacey, 2012. "Information, Commitment, and Separation in Illiquid Housing Markets," 2012 Meeting Papers 401, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    13. Panle Jia Barwick & Parag A. Pathak & Maisy Wong, 2015. "Conflicts of Interest and the Realtor Commission Puzzle," NBER Working Papers 21489, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Liu, An-Hsiang & Siebert, Ralph B., 2022. "The competitive effects of declining entry costs over time: Evidence from the static random access memory market," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    15. Michael W. Walrath, 2016. "Entry Models Applied to Churches: Could Protestants use a Catholic Bishop to Solve Excess Entry?," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(3), pages 557-588, September.
    16. Ken Onishi & Naoki Wakamori & Chiyo Hashimoto & Shun-ichiro Bessho, 2016. "Free Entry and Social Inefficiency in Vertical Relationships: The Case of the MRI Market," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1001, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    17. Lingxiao Li & Abdullah Yavas, 2015. "The Impact of a Multiple Listing Service," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 43(2), pages 471-506, June.
    18. Paul Grieco & Hongsong Zhang & Shengyu Li, 2018. "Input Prices, Productivity and Trade Dynamics: Long-run Effects of Liberalization on Chinese Paint Manufactures," 2018 Meeting Papers 874, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    19. Vivek Farias & Bar Ifrach & Gabriel Weintraub, 2012. "A Framework for Dynamic Oligopoly in Concentrated Industries," 2012 Meeting Papers 505, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    20. Wen-Chung Guo & Fu-Chuan Lai, 2017. "Prices, Locations and Welfare When an Online Retailer Competes with Heterogeneous Brick-and-Mortar Retailers," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(2), pages 439-468, June.
    21. Chun-Chang Lee, 2017. "The Impact of Individual Characteristics and Branch Characteristics on Housing Agent Performance: Heckit model and Hierarchical Linear Modeling," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 9(10), pages 189-199, October.
    22. Li, Shengyu, 2018. "A structural model of productivity, uncertain demand, and export dynamics," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 1-15.
    23. Sophia Gilbukh & Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham, 2019. "Heterogeneous Real Estate Agents and the Housing Cycle," 2019 Meeting Papers 932, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    24. Panle Jia Barwick & Parag A. Pathak & Maisy Wong, 2017. "Conflicts of Interest and Steering in Residential Brokerage," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 191-222, July.
    25. Edward Kung, 2020. "Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Housing," NBER Chapters, in: The Role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Economic Growth, pages 499-533, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • L0 - Industrial Organization - - General
    • L00 - Industrial Organization - - General - - - General
    • L1 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance
    • L5 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy
    • L8 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services
    • L85 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Real Estate Services
    • R0 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General
    • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General

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