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Competition and the signaling role of prices

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Abstract

In a market where sellers are heterogeneous with respect of the quality of their good and are more informed than buyers, high quality sellers' chances to trade might depend on their ability to inform buyers about the quality of the goods they offer. We study how the strength of competition among sellers affects the ability of sellers of high quality goods to achieve communication by means of appropriate pricing decisions in the context of a market populated by a large number of strategic price setting sellers and a large number of buyers. When competition among sellers is weak high quality sellers are able to use prices as a signaling device and this enables them to trade. By contrast, strong competi- tion among sellers inhibits the role of prices as signals of high quality, and high quality sellers are driven out of the market.

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  • LG Deidda & F. Adriani, 2010. "Competition and the signaling role of prices," Working Paper CRENoS 201012, Centre for North South Economic Research, University of Cagliari and Sassari, Sardinia.
    • Handle: RePEc:cns:cnscwp:201012
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    Cited by:

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    3. Dakshina De Silva & Caroline Elliott & Robert Simmons, 2013. "Restaurant wars," Working Papers 44312700, Lancaster University Management School, Economics Department.
    4. Gertz, Christopher, 2016. "A Model of Quality Uncertainty with a Continuum of Quality Levels," Center for Mathematical Economics Working Papers 522, Center for Mathematical Economics, Bielefeld University.
    5. Ying Gao & Xiangpei Hu & Qingkai Ji, 2022. "Quality signaling strategies of experience goods in online–offline channel integration," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(7), pages 2967-2981, October.
    6. Mhd Ruslan, Siti Marsila & Mokhtar, Kasypi, 2020. "An Analysis of Price Disparity: Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 54(2), pages 53-66.
    7. Gupta, Aastha, 2023. "Deceptive advertising, regulation and naive consumers," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    signaling; price- setting; price dispersion; market for lemons; competition; adverse selection;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality
    • D8 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty
    • D4 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design

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