We argue that reputation mechanisms used by platform markets suffer from two problems. First, buyers may draw conclusions about the quality of the platform from single transactions, causing a reputational externality across sellers. Second, for a variety of reasons we discuss, reputations will...

Search frictions can explain why the "law of one price" fails in retail markets and why even firms selling commodity products have pricing power. In online commerce, physical search costs are low, yet price dispersion is common. We use browsing data from eBay to estimate a model of consumer...

We argue that reputation mechanisms used by platform markets suffer from two problems. First, buyers may draw conclusions about the quality of the platform from single transactions, causing a reputational externality across sellers. Second, for a variety of reasons we discuss, reputations will...

Search frictions can explain why the "law of one price" fails in retail markets and why even firms selling commodity products have pricing power. In online commerce, physical search costs are low, yet price dispersion is common. We use browsing data from eBay to estimate a model of consumer...

This paper studies stylized models of multi-unit uniform-price dynamic auctions and posted price, two selling mechanisms popular with peer-to-peer lending platforms, in a setup with common value and independent private signals. The models have two novel features: an "All-or-None" transaction...

Amid the technologies which have caught the attention of business in recent times, the website has been one of the most discussed and debated. In light of the recent dotcom bust, many critics are arguing that websites are less valuable in commercial environments than first thought. eBay however...

The market for knowledge grew dramatically over the past decades. Extant work underscores the factors shaping market efficacy: (a) the cost of searching for innovative knowledge, (b) asymmetric-information between inventors and investors, and (c) the inherent difficulty in maintaining ownership...