Non-reservation price equilibria and consumer search

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Janssen, Maarten C. W.; Parakhonyak, Alexei; Parakhonyak, Anastasia
• 署名单位: University of Vienna; HSE University (National Research University Higher School of Economics); University of Oxford; Universite de Toulouse; Universite Toulouse 1 Capitole; Toulouse School of Economics
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC THEORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0531
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jet.2017.08.003
• 发表日期: 2017
• 页码: 120-162
• 关键词: Sequential search; Non-reservation price equilibria; asymmetric information; Consumer learning

摘要

Reservation price equilibria (RPE) do not accurately assess market power in consumer search markets. In most search markets, consumers do not know important elements of the environment in which they search (such as, for example, firms' cost). We argue that when consumers learn when searching, RPE suffer from theoretical issues, such as non-existence and critical dependence on specific out-of-equilibrium beliefs. We characterize equilibria where consumers rationally choose search strategies that are not characterized by a reservation price. Non-RPE always exist and do not depend on specific out-of-equilibrium beliefs. Non-RPE have active consumer search and are consistent with recent empirical findings. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc.