TY - JOUR
T1 - Market structure, reputation, and the value of quality certification
AU - Elfenbein, Daniel W.
AU - Fisman, Raymond
AU - McManus, Brian
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Quality certification programs help consumers identify high-quality products or sellers in markets with information asymmetries. Using data from eBay UK's online marketplace, we study how certification's impact on demand varies with market- and sellerlevel attributes, exploiting variation in sellers' certification status within groups of near-identical listings. The positive effects of eBay's "top rated seller" certification are stronger for categories with few other certified sellers, in more competitive markets, and for sellers with shorter records of past performance. These findings indicate certification provides more value when certification is rare, the product space is crowded, and for sellers lacking established reputations.
AB - Quality certification programs help consumers identify high-quality products or sellers in markets with information asymmetries. Using data from eBay UK's online marketplace, we study how certification's impact on demand varies with market- and sellerlevel attributes, exploiting variation in sellers' certification status within groups of near-identical listings. The positive effects of eBay's "top rated seller" certification are stronger for categories with few other certified sellers, in more competitive markets, and for sellers with shorter records of past performance. These findings indicate certification provides more value when certification is rare, the product space is crowded, and for sellers lacking established reputations.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84946751400
U2 - 10.1257/mic.20130182
DO - 10.1257/mic.20130182
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84946751400
SN - 1945-7669
VL - 7
SP - 83
EP - 108
JO - American Economic Journal: Microeconomics
JF - American Economic Journal: Microeconomics
IS - 4
ER -