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Ordered Search and Equilibrium Obfuscation

Author

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  • Chris M. Wilson
Abstract
This paper demonstrates the incentives for an oligopolist to obfuscate by deliberately increasing the cost with which consumers can locate its product and price. Consumers are allowed to choose the optimal order in which to search firms and firms are able to influence this order through their choice of search costs and prices. Competition does not ensure market transparency - for a large range of parameters, equilibrium search costs are positive and asymmetric across firms. Intuitively, an obfuscating firm can soften the competition for consumers with low time costs by inducing the remaining consumers to optimally first search its rival.

Suggested Citation

  • Chris M. Wilson, 2008. "Ordered Search and Equilibrium Obfuscation," Economics Series Working Papers 401, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:oxf:wpaper:401
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Search Costs; Search Order; Advertising;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness

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