An experimental study of price dispersion

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Morgan, J; Orzen, H; Sefton, M
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Berkeley; University of California System; University of California Berkeley; University of Nottingham
• 刊物名称: GAMES AND ECONOMIC BEHAVIOR
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0899-8256
• DOI: 10.1016/j.geb.2004.07.005
• 发表日期: 2006
• 页码: 134-158
• 关键词: clearinghouse; internet; experiments; price dispersion

摘要

We report an experiment examining a simple clearing house model that generates price dispersion. According to this model, price dispersion arises because of consumer heterogeneity-some consumers are informed and simply buy from the firm offering the lowest price, while the remaining consumers are captive and shop based on considerations other than price. In our experiment we observe substantial and persistent price dispersion. We find that, as predicted, an increase in the fraction of informed consumers leads to more competitive pricing for all consumers. We also find, as predicted, that when more firms enter the market, prices to informed consumers become more competitive while prices to captive customers become less competitive. Thus, our experiment provides strong support for the model's comparative static predictions about how changes in market structure affect pricing. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.