Who gains and who loses from more information in technology markets? Evidence from the Sunshine Act

Huiyan Zhang, Lee Branstetter, Raffaele Conti and Samir Mamadehussene

Strategic Management Journal, 2023, vol. 44, issue 10, 2377-2412

Abstract: Research Summary We consider the context of a technology market where participants (in particular, sellers) differ in reputation, and sellers observed participating in the transactions might suffer a reputation loss. Our theoretical model predicts that low‐reputation idea sellers, thanks to the improvement in information disclosure, are more likely to be involved in technology transactions; at the same time, high‐reputation idea sellers, to protect their reputations, might prefer avoiding any transactions. This shift in seller composition might affect the quantity and quality of collaborations. To test our theory, we assess the effect of the Physician Payment Sunshine Act on physician‐firm collaborations. Overall, our findings indicate that while information disclosure might benefit some market participants, it can have unintended negative consequences for others. Managerial Summary In technology markets, more information about market participants generally leads to better outcomes. However, in contexts where sellers suffer a reputation loss if their transactions become known, higher‐reputation sellers may leave the market, affecting the quality of ideas being traded and impacting buyers. On the other hand, lower‐reputation sellers may benefit from increased visibility and share their ideas more frequently. Our research examined these effects in the context of the Physician Payment Sunshine Act, which made physician collaborations with medical device companies visible. The results suggest that the effects of information disclosure are not uniform and that some market participants may benefit while others may suffer losses.

Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3511

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:stratm:v:44:y:2023:i:10:p:2377-2412

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.blackwell ... bs.asp?ref=0143-2095

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Strategic Management Journal from Wiley Blackwell
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().