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Price signaling and the strategic benefits of price rigidities

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  • Adriani, Fabrizio
  • Deidda, Luca G.

Abstract

We analyze trade between a perfectly informed price setting party (seller) and an imperfectly informed price taker (buyer). Differently from most of the literature, we focus on the case in which, under full information, it would be inefficient to trade goods of sufficiently poor quality. We show that the unique equilibrium surviving D1 is characterized by market breakdown, although trade would be mutually beneficial in some state of nature. This occurs independently of the precision of the information available to the buyer. The model thus implies that signaling through prices may exacerbate the effect of adverse selection rather than mitigate it. Under D1, the seller would always benefit from committing to prices that do not reveal her information. We develop this intuition by analyzing the strategic advantages of price rigidities. We show that price rigidities help restore trade and could even enhance effectiveness of prices as signals of quality.

Suggested Citation

  • Adriani, Fabrizio & Deidda, Luca G., 2009. "Price signaling and the strategic benefits of price rigidities," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 335-350, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:gamebe:v:67:y:2009:i:2:p:335-350
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    1. Adriani, Fabrizio & Deidda, Luca G., 2011. "Competition and the signaling role of prices," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 412-425, July.
    2. Ferreira, Daniel & Nikolowa, Radoslawa, 2017. "Adverse Selection and Assortative Matching in Labor Markets," CEPR Discussion Papers 11869, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Adriani, Fabrizio & Deidda, Luca & Sonderegger, Silvia, 2009. "The Role of Financial Intermediaries in Securities Issues: A Theoretical Analysis," MPRA Paper 16112, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Carroni, Elias & Mantovani, Andrea & Minniti, Antonio, 2023. "Price signaling with salient-thinking consumers," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 238-253.
    5. Mamada, Robert, 2022. "The market for lemons and information theory," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 107-112.
    6. Fabian Herweg & Daniel Müller, 2016. "Overconfidence in the Markets for Lemons," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 118(2), pages 354-371, April.
    7. Fabrizio Adriani & Luca G. Deidda & Silvia Sonderegger, 2014. "How do Financial Intermediaries Create Value in Security Issues?," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 18(5), pages 1915-1951.
    8. Silvia Martinez-Gorricho, 2020. "Signalling, Information and Consumer Fraud," Games, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-25, July.
    9. Gertz, Christopher, 2016. "Quality Uncertainty with Imperfect Information Acquisition," Center for Mathematical Economics Working Papers 487, Center for Mathematical Economics, Bielefeld University.

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