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Incentives for Cost-Reducing Investment in a Signalling Model of Product Quality

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  • Shiou Shieh

Abstract

Often, consumers do not observe a firm's cost-reducing investment decision. The investment incentive can be weakened when product quality is unobservable before purchase because consumers do not know whether a lower price arises from lower costs or lower quality. This articles examines this issue in a signalling model with both hidden information (about quality) and hidden action (about investment). Surprisingly, asymmetric information about quality may strengthen or weaken a firm's incentive to adopt a process innovation, depending on whether low-price or high-price signalling is used.

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  • Shiou Shieh, 1993. "Incentives for Cost-Reducing Investment in a Signalling Model of Product Quality," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 24(3), pages 466-477, Autumn.
    • Handle: RePEc:rje:randje:v:24:y:1993:i:autumn:p:466-477
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    Cited by:

    1. Belleflamme, Paul & Peitz, Martin, 2014. "Asymmetric information and overinvestment in quality," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 127-143.
    2. Jackson, William III & Nandakumar, Purushottaman & Roth, Aleda V., 2003. "Market structure, consumer banking, and optimal level of service quality," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 49-63.
    3. Sengupta, Aditi, 2012. "Investment in cleaner technology and signaling distortions in a market with green consumers," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 468-480.
    4. Takaoka, Sumiko, 2005. "The effects of product liability costs on R&D with asymmetric information," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 59-81, January.
    5. Daughety, Andrew F & Reinganum, Jennifer F, 1995. "Product Safety: Liability, R&D, and Signaling," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(5), pages 1187-1206, December.
    6. Andrew F. Daughety & Jennifer F. Reinganum, 2008. "Products Liability, Signaling and Disclosure," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 164(1), pages 106-126, March.
    7. Andrew F. Daughety & Jennifer F. Reinganum, 2008. "Communicating quality: a unified model of disclosure and signalling," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 39(4), pages 973-989, December.
    8. Laurent Linnemer, 2011. "Caught In A Stranglehold? Advertising: What Else?," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 79(1), pages 63-80, January.
    9. Sengupta, Aditi, 2015. "Competitive investment in clean technology and uninformed green consumers," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 125-141.
    10. Sander Heinsalu, 2018. "Competitive pricing despite search costs if lower price signals quality," Papers 1806.00898, arXiv.org.
    11. Sander Heinsalu, 2021. "Competitive pricing despite search costs when lower price signals quality," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 71(1), pages 317-339, February.

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