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{{Article
|Has page=Baye Morgan Scholten (2006) - Information Search and Price Dispersion
|Has bibtex key=
|Has article title=Information Search and Price Dispersion
|Has author=Baye Morgan Scholten
|Has year=2006
|In journal=
|In volume=
|In number=
|Has pages=
|Has publisher=
}}
*This page is part of a series under [[PHDBA279B]]
*This page is referenced in [[BPP Field Exam Papers]]
Baye, Michael R., John Morgan, and Patrick Scholten (2006), "Information, Search, and Price Dispersion," Handbook of Economics and Information Systems (T. Hendershott, ed.), Elsevier Press, Amsterdam.
To solve this note that the expected profits must be the same across the entire support (for it to be a mixed strategy) and are equal to the profit from the outside option. The inside option (above) is made up of the following components:
*<math>(p-m) \,</math> is difference between the price and consumer's willingness to pay*This is gained for sure for the <math>L \,</math> loyal consumers*This is gained for the <math>S \,</math> shoppers on the basis of:*<math>\sum_{i=0}^{n-1} \,</math> is the sum over the number of people on the site*<math>\binom{n-1}{i} \,</math> is the <math>n-1 \,</math> choose <math>i \,</math> ways that this could occur*<math>\alpha^i \,</math> is the probability that <math>i \,</math> firms list*<math>(1-\alpha)^{n-1-i} \,</math> is the probability that the other firms <math>(n-1-i) \,</math> didn't list*<math>(1-F(p))^i \,</math> is the probability that everyone who did list prices above <math>p\,</math>
Using the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binomial_theorem binomial theorem]:
 
:<math>\sum_{k=0}^{n} \binom{n}{k} \gamma^k \cdot \beta^{n-k} = (\gamma + \beta)^n\,</math>
 
 
Let <math>\gamma = \alpha(1-F(p))\,</math> and <math>\beta = (1-\alpha)\,</math> and solve to get:
<center><math>\mathbb{E}\pi(p) = (p-m) \left ( L + \left ((1-\alpha F(p))^n-1 \right ) S \right) - \phi\,</math></center>
 
Then use the outside option to solve for <math>F(p)\,</math> to get:
<center><math>\mathbb{E}\pi(p) = (v-m)L + \frac{\phi}{n-1}\,</math></center>
Price dispersion arises from the gatekeeper's incentives to set <math>\phi > 0\,</math>. The expected profits to firms are positive and proportional to <math>\phi\,</math>.
 
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<center><math>
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