Contractual solutions to hold-up problems with quality uncertainty and unobservable investments

B-Tier
Journal: Journal of Mathematical Economics
Year: 2010
Volume: 46
Issue: 5
Pages: 807-816

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Consider a seller and a buyer who write a contract. After that, the seller produces a good. She can influence the expected quality of the good by making unobservable investments. Only the seller learns the realized quality. Finally, trade can occur. It is always ex post efficient to trade. Yet, it may be impossible to achieve the first best, even though the risk-neutral parties are symmetrically informed at the contracting stage and complete contracts can be written. The second best is characterized by distortions that are reminiscent of adverse selection models (i.e., models with precontractual private information but without hidden actions).

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:mateco:v:46:y:2010:i:5:p:807-816
Journal Field
Theory
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-29