 Optimal Choice of Characteristics for a non-excludable GoodNo 06.52, IEPR Working Papers from Institute of Economic Policy Research (IEPR) Abstract: I consider a model where a principal decides whether to produce one unit of an indivisible good (e.g. a private school) and which characteristics it will contain (emphasis on language or science). Agents (parents) are differentiated along two substitutable dimensions: a vertical parameter that captures their privately known valuation for the good (demand for private education), and an horizontal parameter that captures their observable differences in preferences for the characteristics. I analyze the optimal mechanism offered by the principal to allocate the good and show that the principal will produce a good with characteristics more on the lines of the preferences of the agent with the lowest valuation. Furthermore, if the principal has also a private valuation for the good, he will bias the choice of the characteristics against his own preferences. Keywords: Allocation mechanisms; non-excludable goods; vertical and horizontal differentiation; mechanism design; externalities (search for similar items in EconPapers) There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it. Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:scp:wpaper:06-52 Access Statistics for this paper More papers in IEPR Working Papers from Institute of Economic Policy Research (IEPR) Contact information at EDIRC. |
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