Confusopoly: competition and obfuscation in markets

A-Tier
Journal: Experimental Economics
Year: 2016
Volume: 19
Issue: 2
Pages: 299-316

Authors (1)

Kenan Kalaycı (not in RePEc)

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

Abstract This paper examines the effects of competition in experimental posted-offer markets where sellers can confuse buyers. I report two studies. In one, the sellers offering heterogeneous goods can obfuscate buyers by means of spurious product differentiation. In the other study, sellers offer identical goods and make their prices unnecessarily complex by having multi-part tariffs. I vary the level of competition by having treatments with two and three- sellers in both studies, and having an additional treatment with five-sellers in one study. The results show that average complexity created by a seller is not different for the treatments with two, three and five sellers. In addition, market prices are highest and buyer surplus is lowest when there are two sellers in a market.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:kap:expeco:v:19:y:2016:i:2:d:10.1007_s10683-015-9438-z
Journal Field
Experimental
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-25