Inscrutable Markets
Inscrutable Markets
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难以捉摸的市场
DOI：
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发表时间：
1994
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Diego Gambetta
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Diego Gambetta
与受信息不对称影响的市场不同，在宗教和心理治疗等难以捉摸的市场中，不仅买家而且卖家也不太了解其产品的质量。由于买家无法辨别哪些产品质量好，卖家也无法构建“诚实”的信号来引导他们，理性选择理论预测他们的失败。然而这些市场正在出现。本文的假设是供应商奉行两种依赖于符号（商标、徽标、语言、样式）的一般策略。首先，他们试图在难以理解的商品和比它更容易排序的符号之间建立联系；其次，因为这些市场吸引了盗版者，为了保护他们的财产权，他们寻求防模仿的符号。解决方案不太可能来自任何一个符号，而是来自一串相互关联的符号，而模仿这些符号的成本很高。它包括获得无论外部执法如何，海盗都难以模仿的独特身份。列举了黑手党的例子。
Unlike markets that are subject to asymmetric information, in inscrutable markets—such as religions and psychotherapies—not just buyers but sellers too do not know much about the quality of their products. Because buyers cannot discern which products are of good quality and sellers cannot construct “honest” signals to guide them, rational choice theory predicts their failure. Yet these markets emerge. The hypothesis of this article is that suppliers pursue two general strategies that rely on symbols (trademarks, logos, languages, styles). First, they try to engender associations between the inscrutable commodity and symbols that are easier to rank than it; second, because these markets attract pirates, to protect their property rights, they seek imitation-resistant symbols. The solution is unlikely to come from any one symbol, but from a string of interrelated symbols that are costly to imitate. It consists of gaining a distinctive identity that pirates find hard to imitate regardless of external enforcement. Examples from the mafia are presented.