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Trust and Disintermediation: Evidence from an Online Freelance Marketplace

Author

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  • Grace Gu

    (Harvard Business School)

  • Feng Zhu

    (Harvard Business School, Technology and Operations Management Unit)

Abstract

As an intermediary improves trust between two sides of its market to facilitate matching and transactions, it faces an increased risk of disintermediation: with sufficient trust, the two sides may circumvent the intermediary to avoid the intermediary's fees. We investigate the relationship between increased trust and disintermediation by leveraging a randomized control trial on a major online freelance marketplace. Our results show that enhanced trust increases the chance for high-quality freelancers to be hired. When the trust level is sufficiently high, however, it also increases disintermediation, which offsets the revenue gains from the increase in the hiring of high-quality freelancers. We also identify heterogeneity across clients and freelancers in their tendencies to disintermediate.

Suggested Citation

  • Grace Gu & Feng Zhu, 2018. "Trust and Disintermediation: Evidence from an Online Freelance Marketplace," Harvard Business School Working Papers 18-103, Harvard Business School.
    • Handle: RePEc:hbs:wpaper:18-103
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Disintermediation; Intermediary; Trust; Online Marketplace;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation
    • L86 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Information and Internet Services; Computer Software
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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