Dynamic pricing in the presence of individual learning

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Economic Theory
Year: 2015
Volume: 155
Issue: C
Pages: 262-299

Score contribution per author:

4.022 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

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

Abstract

This paper studies price dynamics in a setting in which a monopolist sells a new experience good over time to many buyers, and the seller can neither price discriminate among the buyers nor commit to a price rule. Buyers learn from their own experiences about the effectiveness of the product. Individual learning generates ex post heterogeneity, which affects the buyers' purchasing decisions, the monopolist's pricing strategy, and efficiency. When learning occurs through good news signals, buyers receive a rent because of the possible advantageous belief caused by short-lived deviations. If a good news signal arrives, the price can instantaneously increase or decrease depending on the arrival time of this signal. The equilibrium is inefficient because the monopolist's incentive to exploit known buyers leads to inefficient early termination of exploration. When learning occurs through bad news signals, ex post heterogeneity has no such effect, since only homogeneous unknown buyers purchase the experience good.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:jetheo:v:155:y:2015:i:c:p:262-299
Journal Field
Theory
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-29