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Does Competition Aggravate Moral Hazard? A Multi-Principal-Agent Experiment

Author

Listed:
  • Olga A. Rud

    (Bates College)

  • Jean Paul Rabanal

    (Bates College)

  • John Horowitz

    (Ball State University)

Abstract

We conduct a Multi-Principal-Agent experiment to determine whether market structure affects intermediary behavior. The intermediaries (Agents) are perfectly informed regarding project types and can recommend that Principals either proceed or discontinue with a project. Agents earn revenues only when they recommend to continue. We find that monopolist Agents protect the interests of Principals better than when Agents compete. Our findings are robust to a significant fee increase. The results of our study apply to a number of economic and financial environments (money-managers, rating agencies, etc.) and provide additional evidence on the impact of market structure on individual incentives and equilibrium outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Olga A. Rud & Jean Paul Rabanal & John Horowitz, 2016. "Does Competition Aggravate Moral Hazard? A Multi-Principal-Agent Experiment," Working Papers 86, Peruvian Economic Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:apc:wpaper:2016-086
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Kling, Luisa & König-Kersting, Christian & Trautmann, Stefan T., 2019. "Investment Preferences and Risk Perception: Financial Agents versus Clients," Working Papers 0674, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    4. Mol, Jantsje M. & Botzen, W. J. Wouter & Blasch, Julia E., 2020. "Risk reduction in compulsory disaster insurance: Experimental evidence on moral hazard and financial incentives," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    5. Holzmeister, Felix & Holmén, Martin & Kirchler, Michael & Stefan, Matthias & Wengström, Erik, 2019. "Delegated Decision-Making in Finance," OSF Preprints 3umdf, Center for Open Science.
    6. Felix Holzmeister & Martin Holmén & Michael Kirchler & Matthias Stefan & Erik Wengström, 2023. "Delegation Decisions in Finance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(8), pages 4828-4844, August.
    7. Gelman, Michael & Khan, Zaheer & Shoham, Amir & Tarba, Shlomo Y., 2021. "Does local competition and firm market power affect investment adviser misconduct?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    8. Angerer, Martin & Herrmann-Romero, Matthias & Szymczak, Wiebke, 2022. "Losing funds or losing face? Reputation and accountability in the credit rating industry," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    9. José Manuel Mansilla-Fernández, 2020. "Non-Performing loans, financial stability, and banking competition: evidence for listed and non-listed Eurozone banks," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 232(1), pages 29-52, March.
    10. Song, Fenghua & Thakor, Anjan V., 2019. "Bank culture," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 59-79.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Delegated portfolio management; conflict of interests; rating services; market design; deception; laboratory experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D03 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Behavioral Microeconomics: Underlying Principles
    • D40 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - General
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • G02 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Behavioral Finance: Underlying Principles
    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors
    • G24 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage
    • C90 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - General

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