Arbeitspapier

Reciprocity and gift exchange in markets for credence goods

We study the role of reciprocity in markets where expert-sellers have more information about the severity of a problem faced by a consumer. We employ a standard experimental credence goods market to introduce the possibility for consumers to gift the expert-seller before the diagnostic, where the gift is either transferred unconditionally or conditionally on solving the problem. We find that both types of gift reduce undertreatment, whereas unconditional gifts also reduce overcharging and increase undercharging, suggesting that unconditional gifts are perceived as more kind. For high-severity consumers gifting reduces market inefficiencies, although the presence of low-severity consumers mitigates overall efficiency gains.

Sprache
Englisch

Erschienen in
Series: IRENE Working Paper ; No. 20-09

Klassifikation
Wirtschaft
Design of Experiments: Laboratory, Individual
Consumer Protection
Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
Thema
Credence Goods
Gift Exchange
Asymmetric Information
Lab Experiment

Ereignis
Geistige Schöpfung
(wer)
Kandul, Serhiy
Lanz, Bruno
Reins, Evert
Ereignis
Veröffentlichung
(wer)
University of Neuchâtel, Institute of Economic Research (IRENE)
(wo)
Neuchâtel
(wann)
2020

Handle
Letzte Aktualisierung
10.03.2025, 11:42 MEZ

Datenpartner

Dieses Objekt wird bereitgestellt von:
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. Bei Fragen zum Objekt wenden Sie sich bitte an den Datenpartner.

Objekttyp

  • Arbeitspapier

Beteiligte

  • Kandul, Serhiy
  • Lanz, Bruno
  • Reins, Evert
  • University of Neuchâtel, Institute of Economic Research (IRENE)

Entstanden

  • 2020

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