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How Effective are Electronic Reputation Mechanisms? An Experimental Investigation

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Author Info
Gary E. Bolton
Elena Katok
Axel Ockenfels

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Abstract

Electronic reputation or "feedback" mechanisms aim to mitigate the moral hazard problems associated with exchange among strangers by providing the type of information available in more traditional close-knit groups, where members are frequently involved in one another's dealings. In this paper, we compare trading in a market with online feedback (as implemented by many Internet markets) to a market without feedback, as well as to a market in which the same people interact with one another repeatedly (partners market). We find that, while the feedback mechanism induces quite a substantial improvement in transaction efficiency, it also exhibits a kind of public goods problem in that, unlike in the partners market, the benefits of trust and trustworthy behavior go to the whole community and are not completely internalized. We discuss the implications of this perspective for improving feedback systems.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by University of Cologne, Department of Economics in its series Working Paper Series in Economics with number 3.

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Date of creation: 26 Nov 2003
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Publication status: Published in Management Science, Vol. 50, Number 11, Nov. 2004, 1587-1602
Handle: RePEc:kls:series:0003

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Miller, Nolan & Resnick, Paul & Zeckhauser, Richard, 2002. "Eliciting Honest Feedback in Electronic Markets," Working Paper Series rwp02-039, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government. [Downloadable!]
  2. Kreps, David M. & Milgrom, Paul & Roberts, John & Wilson, Robert, 1982. "Rational cooperation in the finitely repeated prisoners' dilemma," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 245-252, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Blount, Sally, 1995. "When Social Outcomes Aren't Fair: The Effect of Causal Attributions on Preferences," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 131-144, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Claudia Keser, 2002. "Trust and Reputation Building in E-Commerce," CIRANO Working Papers 2002s-75, CIRANO. [Downloadable!]
  5. Paul Resnick & Richard Zeckhauser & John Swanson & Kate Lockwood, 2006. "The value of reputation on eBay: A controlled experiment," Experimental Economics, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 79-101, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Greif, Avner, 1989. "Reputation and Coalitions in Medieval Trade: Evidence on the Maghribi Traders," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(04), pages 857-882, December. [Downloadable!]
  7. Michael Smith & Erik Brynjolfsson, 1999. "Frictionless Commerce? A Comparison of Internet and Conventional Retailers," Computing in Economics and Finance 1999 1022, Society for Computational Economics.
  8. Dan Ariely & Axel Ockenfels & Alvin E. Roth, 2002. "An Experimental Analysis of Ending Rules in Internet Auctions," Papers on Strategic Interaction 2002-47, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Strategic Interaction Group. [Downloadable!]
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  9. Gary E. Bolton & Axel Ockenfels, 2000. "ERC: A Theory of Equity, Reciprocity, and Competition," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(1), pages 166-193, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Alvin E. Roth, 2002. "The Economist as Engineer: Game Theory, Experimentation, and Computation as Tools for Design Economics," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 70(4), pages 1341-1378, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Ellison, Glenn, 1994. "Cooperation in the Prisoner's Dilemma with Anonymous Random Matching," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 61(3), pages 567-88, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Christopher Avery & Paul Resnick & Richard Zeckhauser, 1999. "The Market for Evaluations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(3), pages 564-584, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Bolton, Gary E. & Katok, Elena & Ockenfels, Axel, 2005. "Cooperation among strangers with limited information about reputation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(8), pages 1457-1468, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Daniel Houser & John Wooders, 2006. "Reputation in Auctions: Theory, and Evidence from eBay," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 15(2), pages 353-369, 06. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Ernst Fehr & Klaus M. Schmidt, 1999. "A Theory Of Fairness, Competition, And Cooperation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 114(3), pages 817-868, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  16. Axel Ockenfels, 2002. "Reputationsmechanismen auf Internet-Marktplattformen - Theorie und Empirie -," Papers on Strategic Interaction 2002-46, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Strategic Interaction Group. [Downloadable!]
  17. North, Douglass C, 1991. "Institutions," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 97-112, Winter. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Werner Güth & Axel Ockenfels, 2002. "The Coevolution of Trust and Institutions in Anonymous and Non-anonymous Communities," Papers on Strategic Interaction 2002-07, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Strategic Interaction Group. [Downloadable!]
  19. Eric J. Friedman* & Paul Resnick, 2001. "The Social Cost of Cheap Pseudonyms," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 10(2), pages 173-199, 06. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Michael R. Baye & John Morgan, 2005. "Red Queen Pricing Effects in E-Retail Markets," Working Papers 2005-07, Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, Department of Business Economics and Public Policy. [Downloadable!]
  2. Paul Resnick & Richard Zeckhauser & John Swanson & Kate Lockwood, 2006. "The value of reputation on eBay: A controlled experiment," Experimental Economics, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 79-101, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Robert S. Gazzale & Tapan Khopkar, 2008. "Remain Silent and Ye Shall Suffer: Seller Exploitation of Reticent Buyers in an Experimental Reputation System," Department of Economics Working Papers 2008-22, Department of Economics, Williams College. [Downloadable!]
  4. Nadège Marchand & Claude Montmarquette, 2008. "Training Without Certification: An Experimental Study," CIRANO Working Papers 2008s-01, CIRANO. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Huck, Steffen & Ruchala, Gabriele K. & Tyran, Jean-Robert, 2006. "Competition Fosters Trust," CEPR Discussion Papers 6009, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Robert Kurzban & Mary Rigdon & Bart Wilson, 2008. "Incremental approaches to establishing trust," Experimental Economics, Springer, vol. 11(4), pages 370-389, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Steffen Huck & Gabriele K. Ruchala & Jean-Robert Tyran, 2007. "Pricing and Trust," Discussion Papers 07-04, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Gary E Bolton & Claudia Loebbecke & Axel Ockenfels, 2007. "How Social Reputation Networks Interact with Competition in Anonymous Online Trading: An Experimental Study," Working Paper Series in Economics 32, University of Cologne, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Robert Gazzale, 2005. "Giving Gossips Their Due: Information Provision in Games with Private Monitoring," Game Theory and Information 0508002, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  10. Eric Bettinger & Robert Slonim, 2005. "Using Experimental Economics to Measure the Effects of a Natural Educational Experiment on Altruism," NBER Working Papers 11725, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  11. Jordi Brandts & Arthur Schram & Klarita Gërxhani, 2007. "Information Networks and Worker Recruitment," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 707.07, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC). [Downloadable!]
  12. Carsten Schmidt & Matthias Sutter & Werner Güth, 2005. "Bargaining Outside the Lab - A Newspaper Experiment of a Three-Person Ultimatum Game," Papers on Strategic Interaction 2006-04, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Strategic Interaction Group. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  13. Steffen Huck & Gabriele K. Lünser & Jean-Robert Tyran, 2007. "Consumer Networks and Firm Reputation: A First Experimental Investigation," Discussion Papers 07-28, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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