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Drugs, Showrooms and Financial Products: Competition and Regulation when Sellers Provide Expert Advice

Author

Listed:
  • David Bardey
  • Denis Gromb
  • David Martimort
  • Jerome Pouyet

Abstract

We consider a market in which sellers can exert an information gathering effort to advise buyers about which of two goods best fits their needs. Sellers may steer buyers towards the higher margin good. We show that for sellers to collect and reveal information, profits on both goods must be sufficiently close to each other, i.e., lie within an implementability cone, which competition or regulation may ensure. Instruments to do so vary with the context. Controlling market power while improving the quality of advice is more difficult when sellers have private information on the profitability ofthe goods.

Suggested Citation

  • David Bardey & Denis Gromb & David Martimort & Jerome Pouyet, 2016. "Drugs, Showrooms and Financial Products: Competition and Regulation when Sellers Provide Expert Advice," Documentos CEDE 15231, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
  • Handle: RePEc:col:000089:015231
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Danilo Liberati & Francesco Vercelli, 2019. "As long as the bank gains: expanding the retail distribution activity," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 510, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mis-Selling; Expertise; Retailing; Competition; Regulation; Asymmetric Information.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design

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