A learning theory of referrals /

Many service industries, including the medical and legal professions in some countries, display a gated structure. Rather than approaching a final producer directly, a consumer will first seek a referral from an intermediary. Such an industry structure might help to alleviate adverse selection probl...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Eldridge, Damien S. (Sean)
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: Bundoora, Vic. : La Trobe University. School of Business, 2007
Series:Discussion papers (La Trobe University. School of Business) 07.06
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.latrobe.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/130905/2007.06.pdf
Description
Summary:Many service industries, including the medical and legal professions in some countries, display a gated structure. Rather than approaching a final producer directly, a consumer will first seek a referral from an intermediary. Such an industry structure might help to alleviate adverse selection problems between parties that interact infrequently. Intermediaries aggregate many short-run transactions between various consumers and a particular producer. As such, they might be able to learn a producers level of proficiency more rapidly than an individual consumer. However, the presence of a positive information externality means that too few consumers will seek a referral. As such, some form of regulation to encourage consumers to seek a referral might be warranted.
Physical Description:27 p.
Bibliography:Bibliografía: p. 25-27.
ISBN:1921377266
ISSN:1441-3213