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On the Welfare Costs of Naiveté in the US Credit-Card Market

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  • Paul Heidhues

  • Botond Kőszegi

Abstract

In the presence of naive consumers, a participation distortion arises in competitive markets because the additional profits from naive consumers lead competitive firms to lower transparent prices below cost. Using a simple calibration, we argue that the participation distortion in the US credit-card market may be massive. Our results call for a redirection of some of the large amount of empirical research on the quantification of the welfare losses from market power, to the quantification of welfare losses that are due to the firms’ reactions to consumer misunderstandings. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Heidhues & Botond Kőszegi, 2015. "On the Welfare Costs of Naiveté in the US Credit-Card Market," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 47(3), pages 341-354, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:revind:v:47:y:2015:i:3:p:341-354
    DOI: 10.1007/s11151-015-9473-0
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Dahmann, Sarah C. & Kamhöfer, Daniel A. & Schildberg-Hörisch, Hannah, 2022. "The Predictive Power of Self-Control for Life Outcomes," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 725-744.
    4. Paulo Pereira Silva & Victor Mendes, 2023. "Education and financial mistakes: The case of avoidable trading fees in stock markets," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 22(2), pages 173-202, May.
    5. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Dahmann, Sarah Christina & Kamhöfer, Daniel A. & Schildberg-Hörisch, Hannah, 2019. "Self-control: Determinants, life outcomes and intergenerational implications," DICE Discussion Papers 319, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    6. Cobb-Clark, Deborah A. & Dahmann, Sarah C. & Kamhöfer, Daniel A. & Schildberg-Hörisch, Hannah, 2024. "Sophistication about self-control," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    7. Michael Grubb & Victor Tremblay, 2015. "Introduction: Behavioral Industrial Organization," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 47(3), pages 243-245, November.
    8. Michael D. Grubb, 2015. "Overconfident Consumers in the Marketplace," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 29(4), pages 9-36, Fall.
    9. Downs, Justin, 2024. "Screening, overconfidence, and competition’s effect on market efficiency," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    10. Jason Allen & Michael Boutros & Benedict Guttman-Kenney, 2024. "Credit Card Minimum Payment Restrictions," Staff Working Papers 24-26, Bank of Canada.
    11. Haucap, Justus, 2021. "Mögliche Wohlfahrtswirkungen eines Einsatzes von Algorithmen," DICE Ordnungspolitische Perspektiven 109, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    12. Scott T. Nelson, 2025. "Private Information and Price Regulation in the US Credit Card Market," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 93(4), pages 1371-1410, July.
    13. Victor J. Tremblay & Mo Xiao, 2020. "Introduction: Firms with Behavioral Biases," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 56(2), pages 199-202, March.

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