We set up a game-theoretic model to examine the oligopolistic price competition, considering two features of online search: the existence of a common search ordering and shoppers who have non-positive search cost. We find that in equilibrium firms set their prices probabilistically rather than...

Online anonymity has posed a significant threat on online reputation mechanisms and online identity management. How to improve the reliability and effectiveness of online reputation has thus become an important question of theoretical and practical interest. We examine a reputation market in an...

We examine competition between two-sided platforms in a sharing economy using ride sharing as an example. In this economy, drivers self-schedule their supply based on the wage they receive. The platforms compete for drivers as well as riders. To attract drivers, platforms have used diverse wage...

We develop a system for grid computing where the price of computing tasks is determined by an audited market-exchange. We show a method to provide a variable certificate, called \witness," of program execution with the following property: If two different agents running the same program on the...

Abstract: As online reviews play a decisive role in consumers' purchase decisions, e-commerce platforms are using review systems strategically to obtain a competitive advantage. However, the strategic potential can only be leveraged if the review system is designed appropriately. Research on the...

Crowdsourcing platforms provide a venue where firms looking for solutions (seekers) and individuals who can provide solutions (solvers) interact with each other. As crowdsourcing contest platforms have grown in popularity with numerous tasks being posted on a daily basis, a concern that has...

Firms employ various techniques to obtain information about consumer taste/location and valuation prior to making product design decisions. User-generated content, a hallmark of Web 2.0 technologies, is becoming an important source of consumer information for firms. The vast variety and volume...

Online retailing is dominated by a channel structure in which a retailer either buys products from competing manufacturers and resells to consumers (wholesale scheme) or lets manufacturers directly sell to consumers on its platform for a commission (platform scheme). Easy access to publicly...

Recommender systems have become the cornerstone of electronic marketplaces that sell products from competing sellers. Similar to traditional advertising, recommender systems can introduce consumers to new products and increase the market size which benefits sellers. The informative role of...

Procurement auctions are sometimes plagued with a chosen supplier's failing to accomplish a project successfully. The risk of project failure is considerable, especially when the buyer has inadequate information about suppliers ex ante and the project can only be evaluated at the end. To manage...