Optimal Information Design of Online Marketplaces with Return Rights

成果类型:
Article; Early Access
署名作者:
von Wangenheim, Jonas
署名单位:
University of Bonn
刊物名称:
JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY
ISSN/ISSBN:
0022-3808
DOI:
10.1086/736214
发表日期:
2025
关键词:
摘要:
Consumer data increasingly enable online marketplaces to identify buyers' preferences and provide individualized product information. Buyers, however, fully learn their product value only after contracting, when the product is delivered. I characterize the impact of such ex ante information on buyer surplus and seller surplus, when the seller sets prices and refund conditions in response to the ex ante information. I show that efficient trade and an arbitrary split of the surplus can be achieved. For the buyer-optimal signal, low-valuation buyers remain partially uninformed. Such a signal induces the seller to sell at low prices without refund options.
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