Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/171622 
Year of Publication: 
2013
Series/Report no.: 
Economics Working Paper Series No. 13/179
Publisher: 
ETH Zurich, CER-ETH - Center of Economic Research, Zurich
Abstract: 
This paper investigates the impact of four key economic variables on an expert firm’s incentive to defraud its customers in a credence goods market: the level of competition, the expert firm’s financial situation, its competence, and its reputational concerns. We use and complement the dataset of a nationwide field study conducted by the German Automobile Association that regularly checks the reliability of garages in Germany. We find that more intense competition and high competence lower firms’ incentive to overcharge. A low concern for reputation and a critical financial situation increase the incentive to overcharge.
Subjects: 
Asymmetric information
Auto repair market
Credence goods
Expert
Fraud
Overcharging
JEL: 
D82
L15
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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