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Screening Experts' Distributional Preferences

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  • Dominik Erharter

Abstract

We study optimal direct mechanisms for a credence goods expert who can be altruistic or spiteful. The expert has private information about her distributional preferences and possibly also about her customer's needs. We introduce a method that allows the customer to offer separate contracts to different preference types and outline when separation is optimal. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the optimality of separating mechanisms is sensitive to minor changes of the customer's utility function. Additionally, we illustrate how our results extend to more than two preference types and discuss possible policy implications.

Suggested Citation

  • Dominik Erharter, 2013. "Screening Experts' Distributional Preferences," Working Papers 2013-27, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, Universität Innsbruck.
    • Handle: RePEc:inn:wpaper:2013-27
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    other-regarding preferences; inequality aversion; credence good; principal-agent model; adverse selection; moral hazard;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L15 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Information and Product Quality
    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games

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