Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/46330 
Year of Publication: 
2011
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 3365
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
Who does, and who should initiate costly certification by a third party under asymmetric quality information, the buyer or the seller? Our answer - the seller - follows from a nontrivial analysis revealing a clear intuition. Buyer-induced certification acts as an inspection device, seller-induced certification as a signalling device. Seller-induced certification maximizes the certifier's profit and social welfare. This suggests the general principle that certification is, and should be induced by the better informed party. The results are reflected in a case study from the automotive industry, but apply also to other markets - in particular the financial market.
Subjects: 
asymmetric information
certification
information acquisition
inspection
lemons
middlemen
signaling
JEL: 
D40
D82
L14
L15
Document Type: 
Working Paper
Appears in Collections:

Files in This Item:
File
Size
259.43 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.