Gu, Y., Rasch, A. and Wenzel, T. (2022) Consumer salience and quality provision in (un)regulated public service markets. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 93. 103754. ISSN 0166-0462
Abstract
This article examines the impacts of publishing quality indicators in publicly financed service markets, such as education and healthcare markets. We set up a model in which the reporting of such indicators increases consumers’ decision weight on quality relative to other attributes (prices and horizontal match), affecting the competition between service providers. We use the model to study the effects in two market environments: markets with regulated prices and markets with unregulated prices. We find that the publication of quality indicators increases quality investments by service providers, but also increases prices and reduces variety. Consumer and total welfare can decrease with such policies, particularly when consumers are heavily subsidised.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 Elsevier B.V. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Regional Science and Urban Economics. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Service markets; Quality reporting; Variety; Entry; Regulation; Public finance |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Economics (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 23 Nov 2021 16:05 |
Last Modified: | 17 Jun 2023 00:13 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2021.103754 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:180792 |