ABSTRACT

Markets in which similar goods of different qualities are sold suffer from information asymmetries and their negative consequences. Dealers have established themselves, and mediate these markets through their use of quality signals. While these signals help to mitigate information asymmetries, these markets still function well below their optimum: a large share of goods sold are overpriced, and most of the benefits are reaped by intermediaries. In this paper we build on prior research that proposes the use of blockchain as an enabler for trusted, decentralized asset documentation. Applying a socio-technical lens, we describe how blockchain-enabled multi-party certification affords dealers the action potential to send signals that are more closely correlated to the unobservable quality of the underlying good (i.e., signals with a higher fit) than the signals they send today. We then both theorize and experimentally explore the market effects of the two types of signals. Using data from a laboratory market experiment with 210 participants, we find empirical evidence that multi-party certification affords dealers the action potential to send signals of significantly higher fit than those sent by intermediaries alone, leading to a reduction in information asymmetries, a more efficient allocation of goods, and an increase in market fairness.

摘要

销售不同质量的类似商品的市场遭受信息不对称及其负面后果的影响。经销商已经确立了自己的地位，并通过使用质量信号来调解这些市场。尽管这些信号有助于缓解信息不对称，但这些市场的功能仍远低于其最佳状态：很大一部分销售的商品定价过高，而大部分收益都由中介机构获得。在本文中，我们建立在先前研究的基础上，该研究建议使用区块链作为可信、去中心化资产文档的推动者。应用社会技术视角，我们描述了支持区块链的多方认证如何为经销商提供行动潜力，以发送与潜在商品的不可观察质量更密切相关的信号（即，具有更高fit ) 比他们今天发出的信号。然后，我们对这两种信号的市场效应进行理论化和实验性探索。使用来自 210 名参与者的实验室市场实验的数据，我们发现经验证据表明，多方认证为经销商提供了发送比仅由中介发送的信号匹配度更高的信号的行动潜力，从而减少了信息不对称，提高了交易效率。商品配置，提高市场公平性。