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Testing Cost Inefficiency Under Free Entry in the Real Estate Brokerage Industry

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  • Lu Han
  • Seung-Hyun Hong

Abstract

This article provides an empirical framework for studying entry and cost inefficiency in the real estate brokerage industry. We present a structural entry model that exploits individual level data on entry and earnings to estimate potential real estate agents' revenues and reservation wages, thereby recovering costs of providing brokerage service. Using U.S. Census data, we estimate the model and find strong evidence for cost inefficiency under free entry, attributable in particular to wasteful nonprice competition. We further use the estimated model to evaluate welfare implications of the rebate bans that currently persist in some U.S. states. Supplemental materials are provided online.

Suggested Citation

  • Lu Han & Seung-Hyun Hong, 2011. "Testing Cost Inefficiency Under Free Entry in the Real Estate Brokerage Industry," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(4), pages 564-578, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:jnlbes:v:29:y:2011:i:4:p:564-578
    DOI: 10.1198/jbes.2011.08314
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    Cited by:

    1. Seung‐Hyun Hong, 2022. "Real estate agents' influence on housing search," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(3), pages 563-582, April.
    2. Victor Aguirregabiria & Allan Collard-Wexler & Stephen P. Ryan, 2021. "Dynamic Games in Empirical Industrial Organization," Papers 2109.01725, arXiv.org, revised Sep 2021.
    3. Zhaohui Li & Qiang Li & Hua Sun & Li Sun, 2022. "Diffused effort, asset heterogeneity, and real estate brokerage," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 50(3), pages 707-742, September.
    4. Nathan Yang, 2011. "An Empirical Model of Industry Dynamics with Common Uncertainty and Learning from the Actions of Competitors," Working Papers 11-16, NET Institute.
    5. Gautier, Pieter & Siegmann, Arjen & van Vuuren, Aico, 2023. "Real-estate agent commission structure and sales performance," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 163-187.
    6. Edward Kung, 2020. "Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Housing," NBER Working Papers 26886, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Victor Aguirregabiria & Mathieu Marcoux, 2021. "Imposing equilibrium restrictions in the estimation of dynamic discrete games," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 12(4), pages 1223-1271, November.
    8. Julius Stoll, 2023. "How not to Reduce Commission Rates of Real Estate Agents: Evidence From Germany," Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers 0026, Berlin School of Economics.
    9. Geoffrey K. Turnbull & Bennie D. Waller & Scott A. Wentland, 2022. "Mitigating agency costs in the housing market," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 50(3), pages 829-861, September.
    10. Nathan Yang, 2012. "Burger King and McDonald’s: Where’s the Spillover?," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(2), pages 255-281, July.
    11. Sophia Gilbukh & Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham, 2019. "Heterogeneous Real Estate Agents and the Housing Cycle," 2019 Meeting Papers 932, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    12. Panle Jia Barwick & Parag A. Pathak, 2015. "The costs of free entry: an empirical study of real estate agents in Greater Boston," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 46(1), pages 103-145, March.
    13. In Kyung Kim & Yoon-Jin Lee & Young-Ro Yoon, 2017. "Sequential Supply Decision and Market Efficiency: Theory and Evidence," Working Papers 1703, Nazarbayev University, Department of Economics, revised Mar 2017.
    14. Aguirregabiria, Victor, 2009. "Estimation of Dynamic Discrete Games Using the Nested Pseudo Likelihood Algorithm: Code and Application," MPRA Paper 17329, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Panle Jia Barwick & Parag A. Pathak & Maisy Wong, 2015. "Conflicts of Interest and the Realtor Commission Puzzle," NBER Working Papers 21489, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Panle Jia & Parag A. Pathak, 2010. "The Impact of Commissions on Home Sales in Greater Boston," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(2), pages 475-479, May.
    17. Marcus T. Allen & William H. Dare & Lingxiao Li, 2018. "MLS Information Sharing Intensity and Housing Market Outcomes," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 297-313, August.
    18. Han, Lu & Strange, William C., 2015. "The Microstructure of Housing Markets," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 813-886, Elsevier.
    19. Panle Jia Barwick & Parag A. Pathak & Maisy Wong, 2017. "Conflicts of Interest and Steering in Residential Brokerage," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 191-222, July.
    20. Edward Kung, 2020. "Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Housing," NBER Chapters, in: The Role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Economic Growth, pages 499-533, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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