Investments as signals of outside options

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Economic Theory
Year: 2014
Volume: 150
Issue: C
Pages: 683-708

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

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

Abstract

Consider a seller who can make an observable but non-contractible investment to improve an intermediate good that is specialized to a particular buyerʼs needs. The buyer then makes a take-it-or-leave-it offer to the seller. The seller has private information about the fraction of the ex post surplus that he can realize on his own. Compared to a situation with complete information, additional investment incentives are generated by the sellerʼs desire to pretend a strong outside option. On the other hand, ex post efficiency is not attained since asymmetric information at the bargaining stage sometimes leads to inefficient separations.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:jetheo:v:150:y:2014:i:c:p:683-708
Journal Field
Theory
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25