Agency Contracts with Long-Term Customer Relationships

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Labor Economics
Year: 2005
Volume: 23
Issue: 3
Pages: 589-608

Authors (3)

Ignatius J. Horstmann (University of Toronto) Frank Mathewson (not in RePEc) Neil Quigley (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

1.341 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

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

Abstract

In certain industries, sales agent contracts include provisions for sales commissions and clawbacks of commissions if clients are not retained. We show that contracts with these features arise in environments having up-front selling costs recouped from ongoing sales; heterogeneous customers; limited agent access to capital markets; and imperfect commitment to long-term contracts. We test the model using information on insurance sales agent contracts from New Zealand prior to and after bank entry into insurance sales. The evidence indicates that banks cream-skimmed customers. We predict that this should reduce the values of sales commissions and clawbacks. The data support this prediction.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:ucp:jlabec:v:23:y:2005:i:3:p:589-608
Journal Field
Labor
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-02-02