provider certification numbers, suggesting that the cap impacts market structure. Current policy discussions about reducing the …

In markets with quality unobservable to buyers, third-party certification is often the only instrument to increase … transparency. While both sellers and buyers have a demand for certification, its role differs fundamentally: sellers use it for … signaling, buyers use it for inspection. Seller induced certification leads to more transparency, because it is informative …

inefficient. Certification intermediaries are institutions that provide information about quality to buyers. The amount of …