IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cte/wbrepe/wb092903.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The value of a "free" customer

Author

Listed:
  • Gupta, Sunil
  • Mela, Carl F.
  • Vidal-Sanz, Jose M.

Abstract

We study the problem of a firm that faces asymmetric information about the productivity of its potential workers. In our framework, a worker’s productivity is either assigned by nature at birth, or determined by an unobservable initial action of the worker that has persistent effects over time. We provide a characterization of the optimal dynamic compensation scheme that attracts only high productivity workers: consumption –regardless of time period– is ranked according to likelihood ratios of output histories, and the inverse of the marginal utility of consumption satisfies the martingale property derived in Rogerson (1985). However, in the case of i.i.d. output and square root utility we show that, contrary to the features of the optimal contract for a repeated moral hazard problem, the level and the variance of consumption are negatively correlated, due to the influence of early luck into future compensation. Moreover, in this example long-term inequality is lower under persistent private information

Suggested Citation

  • Gupta, Sunil & Mela, Carl F. & Vidal-Sanz, Jose M., 2009. "The value of a "free" customer," DEE - Working Papers. Business Economics. WB wb092903, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía de la Empresa.
    • Handle: RePEc:cte:wbrepe:wb092903
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://e-archivo.uc3m.es/rest/api/core/bitstreams/1e8b7d80-b9c7-4e5e-9617-cf6903f90a80/content
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stephen Ryan & Catherine Tucker, 2012. "Heterogeneity and the dynamics of technology adoption," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 63-109, March.
    2. Jean‐Charles Rochet & Jean Tirole, 2006. "Two‐sided markets: a progress report," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 37(3), pages 645-667, September.
    3. Chamberlain, Gary, 1987. "Asymptotic efficiency in estimation with conditional moment restrictions," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 305-334, March.
    4. Pradeep Chintagunta & Tülin Erdem & Peter E. Rossi & Michel Wedel, 2006. "Structural Modeling in Marketing: Review and Assessment," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(6), pages 604-616, 11-12.
    5. Pradeep K. Chintagunta & Vithala R. Rao, 1996. "Pricing Strategies in a Dynamic Duopoly: A Differential Game Model," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(11), pages 1501-1514, November.
    6. Vrinda Kadiyali & Pradeep Chintagunta & Naufel Vilcassim, 2000. "Manufacturer-Retailer Channel Interactions and Implications for Channel Power: An Empirical Investigation of Pricing in a Local Market," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(2), pages 127-148, September.
    7. Wagner Kamakura & Carl Mela & Asim Ansari & Anand Bodapati & Pete Fader & Raghuram Iyengar & Prasad Naik & Scott Neslin & Baohong Sun & Peter Verhoef & Michel Wedel & Ron Wilcox, 2005. "Choice Models and Customer Relationship Management," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 279-291, December.
    8. Gustav Feichtinger & Richard F. Hartl & Suresh P. Sethi, 1994. "Dynamic Optimal Control Models in Advertising: Recent Developments," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(2), pages 195-226, February.
    9. Kenneth C. Wilbur, 2008. "A Two-Sided, Empirical Model of Television Advertising and Viewing Markets," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(3), pages 356-378, 05-06.
    10. Gerald L. Thompson & Jinn-Tsair Teng, 1984. "Optimal Pricing and Advertising Policies for New Product Oligopoly Models," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(2), pages 148-168.
    11. Pradeep K. Chintagunta & Naufel J. Vilcassim, 1992. "An Empirical Investigation of Advertising Strategies in a Dynamic Duopoly," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 38(9), pages 1230-1244, September.
    12. Desiraju, Ramarao & Nair, Harikesh S. & Chintagunta, Pradeep, 2004. "Diffusion of New Pharmaceutical Drugs in Developing and Developed Nations," Research Papers 1950, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    13. Roson Roberto, 2005. "Two-Sided Markets: A Tentative Survey," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 4(2), pages 1-19, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Stuart Read & Stefan Michel & Jan H. Schumann & Kumar Rakesh Ranjan, 2019. "Pricing co-created value: an integrative framework and research agenda," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 9(3), pages 155-183, December.
    2. Peter Zubcsek & Miklos Sarvary, 2011. "Advertising to a social network," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 71-107, March.
    3. Kaifu Zhang & Theodoros Evgeniou & V. Padmanabhan & Emile Richard, 2012. "Content Contributor Management and Network Effects in a UGC Environment," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(3), pages 433-447, May.
    4. Avagyan, Vardan & Esteban-Bravo, Mercedes & Vidal-Sanz, Jose M., 2014. "Licensing radical product innovations to speed up the diffusion," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 239(2), pages 542-555.
    5. Mercedes Esteban-Bravo & Jose M. Vidal-Sanz & Gökhan Yildirim, 2014. "Valuing Customer Portfolios with Endogenous Mass and Direct Marketing Interventions Using a Stochastic Dynamic Programming Decomposition," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 33(5), pages 621-640, September.
    6. Leeflang, Peter, 2011. "Paving the way for “distinguished marketing”," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 76-88.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. V Kumar & Amalesh Sharma & Shaphali Gupta, 2017. "Accessing the influence of strategic marketing research on generating impact: moderating roles of models, journals, and estimation approaches," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 164-185, March.
    2. Huang, Jian & Leng, Mingming & Liang, Liping, 2012. "Recent developments in dynamic advertising research," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 220(3), pages 591-609.
    3. Carl F. Mela, 2011. "Structural Workshop Paper --Data Selection and Procurement," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(6), pages 965-976, November.
    4. Richards, Timothy J., 2002. "Dynamic Strategic Interaction: A Synthesis Of Modeling Methods," Western Economics Forum, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 1(1), pages 1-5.
    5. Michael Vogelsang, 2010. "Dynamics of two-sided internet markets," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 129-145, May.
    6. Song Yao & Carl F. Mela, 2008. "Online Auction Demand," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(5), pages 861-885, 09-10.
    7. Frank M. Bass & Anand Krishnamoorthy & Ashutosh Prasad & Suresh P. Sethi, 2005. "Generic and Brand Advertising Strategies in a Dynamic Duopoly," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(4), pages 556-568, February.
    8. Yupin Yang & Mengze Shi & Avi Goldfarb, 2009. "Estimating the Value of Brand Alliances in Professional Team Sports," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(6), pages 1095-1111, 11-12.
    9. Marco Antonielli & Lapo Filistrucchi, 2011. "Collusion and the political differentiation of newspapers," Working Papers 11-26, NET Institute, revised Nov 2011.
    10. Matthew Gentzkow & Jesse M. Shapiro & Michael Sinkinson, 2014. "Competition and Ideological Diversity: Historical Evidence from US Newspapers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(10), pages 3073-3114, October.
    11. Nair, Anand & Narasimhan, Ram, 2006. "Dynamics of competing with quality- and advertising-based goodwill," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 175(1), pages 462-474, November.
    12. Pierre ANDREOLETTI & Pierre GAZE & Maxime MENUET, 2015. "Can a Platform Make Profit with Consumers' Mobility? A Two-Sided Monopoly Model with Random Endogenous Side-Switching," LEO Working Papers / DR LEO 1969, Orleans Economics Laboratory / Laboratoire d'Economie d'Orleans (LEO), University of Orleans.
    13. Song Yao & Carl F. Mela, 2008. "A Dynamic Model of Sponsored Search Advertising," Working Papers 08-16, NET Institute, revised Sep 2008.
    14. Christian Stummer & Dennis Kundisch & Reinhold Decker, 2018. "Platform Launch Strategies," Business & Information Systems Engineering: The International Journal of WIRTSCHAFTSINFORMATIK, Springer;Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. (GI), vol. 60(2), pages 167-173, April.
    15. Marc Ivaldi & Jiekai Zhang, 2017. "Advertising Competition in the Free-to-Air TV Broadcasting Industry," CESifo Working Paper Series 6461, CESifo.
    16. Gawer, Annabelle, 2014. "Bridging differing perspectives on technological platforms: Toward an integrative framework," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(7), pages 1239-1249.
    17. Shekhar, Shiva, 2020. "Zero Pricing Platform Competition," MPRA Paper 99364, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Olivier Rubel & Prasad A. Naik & Shuba Srinivasan, 2011. "Optimal Advertising When Envisioning a Product-Harm Crisis," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(6), pages 1048-1065, November.
    19. Zhiyi Wang & Lusi Yang & Jungpil Hahn, 2023. "Winner Takes All? The Blockbuster Effect on Crowdfunding Platforms," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 34(3), pages 935-960, September.
    20. Kevin J. Boudreau, 2021. "Promoting Platform Takeoff and Self-Fulfilling Expectations: Field Experimental Evidence," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(9), pages 5953-5967, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Customer lifetime value;

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cte:wbrepe:wb092903. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Ana Poveda (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.business.uc3m.es/es/index .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.