It is well known that the Internet has significantly reduced consumers'search costs online. But relatively little is known about how searchcosts affect consumer demand structure in online markets. In this paper,we identify the impact of search costs on firm competition and marketstructure by...

This dissertation investigates the impact of online product information on consumers, firms and markets. The first chapter of this dissertation proves that better access to product information increases consumer demand and their willingness-to-pay, leading to a new era where firms can charge...

Background: We examine the signaling effect of borrowers' social media behavior, especially self-disclosure behavior, on the default probability of money borrowers on a peer-to-peer (P2P) lending site. Method: We use a unique dataset that combines loan data from a large P2P lending site with the...