报告题目：Experience Goods and Consumer Search
报 告 人：李腾飞（产业组织与企业组织研究中心硕士研究生）
报告时间：2024年6月14日（周五）10:00-11:30
报告地点：问源阁419室
主办单位：产业组织与企业组织研究中心
【内容摘要】
We introduce a search model where products differ in variety and unobserved quality (‘experience goods’), and firms can establish quality reputation. We show that the inability of consumers to observe quality before purchase significantly changes how search frictions affect market performance. In equilibrium, higher search costs hinder consumers’ search for better-matched variety and increase price, but can boost firms’ investment in product quality. Under plausible conditions, both consumer and total welfare initially increase in search cost, whereas both would monotonically decrease if quality were observable. We apply the analysis to online markets, where low search costs coexist with low-quality products.
【文章信息】
Chen, Yongmin, Zhuozheng Li, and Tianle Zhang. 2022. "Experience Goods and Consumer Search." American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 14 (3): 591-621.
