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Are lemons really hot potatoes?

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  • Engers, Maxim
  • Hartmann, Monica
  • Stern, Steven

Abstract

We model the hazard rate for car ownership spells. Our model allows us to distinguish among different types of adverse selection effects by observing the type of unobserved heterogeneity across owners of the same car. Our empirical results strongly suggest that there is a lemons effect because there is significant unobserved heterogeneity. However, they also suggest that the lemons effect is caused by the first owner rather than the manufacturer. Had the manufacturer created the lemon, the unobserved heterogeneity would be positively correlated over all owners of a given car. Instead we observe a negative correlation between the unobserved heterogeneity term for the first owner and the unobserved heterogeneity term for subsequent owners.

Suggested Citation

  • Engers, Maxim & Hartmann, Monica & Stern, Steven, 2009. "Are lemons really hot potatoes?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 250-263, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:indorg:v:27:y:2009:i:2:p:250-263
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    Cited by:

    1. Anne‐Célia Disdier & Carl Gaigné & Cristina Herghelegiu, 2023. "Do standards improve the quality of traded products?," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 56(4), pages 1238-1290, November.
    2. Bryan Bollinger, 2015. "Green technology adoption: An empirical study of the Southern California garment cleaning industry," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 319-358, December.
    3. Gary Biglaiser & Fei Li & Charles Murry & Yiyi Zhou, 2020. "Intermediaries and product quality in used car markets," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 51(3), pages 905-933, September.
    4. Maxim Engers & Monica Hartmann & Steven Stern, 2009. "Annual miles drive used car prices," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(1), pages 1-33.
    5. Justin P. Johnson & Henry S. Schneider & Michael Waldman, 2014. "The Role and Growth of New-Car Leasing: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(3), pages 665-698.
    6. Christopher Adams & Laura Hosken & Peter Newberry, 2011. "Vettes and lemons on eBay," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 109-127, June.
    7. Strittmatter, Anthony & Lechner, Michael, 2020. "Sorting in the used-car market after the Volkswagen emission scandal," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    8. Jonathan R. Peterson & Henry S. Schneider, 2017. "Beautiful Lemons: Adverse Selection in Durable-Goods Markets with Sorting," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(9), pages 3111-3127, September.
    9. Djolaud, Guy, 2022. "Import Penetration of Low Quality Products : Markups Implications," MPRA Paper 114611, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. K. W. Chau & Lennon H. T. Choy, 2011. "Let the Buyer or Seller Beware: Measuring Lemons in the Housing Market under Different Doctrines of Law Governing Transactions and Information," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(S4), pages 347-365.
    11. Bryan Bollinger, 2015. "Green technology adoption: An empirical study of the Southern California garment cleaning industry," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 319-358, December.
    12. L. Li & K. W. Chau, 2024. "Information Asymmetry with Heterogeneous Buyers and Sellers in the Housing Market," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 68(1), pages 138-159, January.
    13. Jonathan R. Peterson & Henry S. Schneider, 2014. "Adverse selection in the used-car market: evidence from purchase and repair patterns in the Consumer Expenditure Survey," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 45(1), pages 140-154, March.

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