Knowledge Market Design: A Field Experiment at Google Answers

Yan Chen, Teck Ho () and Yong‐mi Kim

Journal of Public Economic Theory, 2010, vol. 12, issue 4, 641-664

Abstract: In a field experiment at Google Answers, we investigate the performance of price‐based online knowledge markets by systematically manipulating prices. Specifically, we study the effects of price, tip, and a reputation system on both an answerer's effort and answer quality by posting real reference questions from the Internet Public Library on Google Answers under different pricing schemes. We find that a higher price leads to a significantly longer, but not better, answer, while an answerer with a higher reputation provides significantly better answers. Our results highlight the limitation of monetary incentives and the importance of reputation systems in knowledge market design.

Date: 2010
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https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9779.2010.01468.x

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