STICERD Economic Theory Seminars
Selling diversity
Vasiliki Skreta (University of Texas at Austin), joint with Suraj Malladi (Northwestern)
Thursday 10 October 2024 15:30 - 17:00
MAR 6.33, 6th floor, The Marshall Building, 44 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3LY
Many of our seminars and public events this year will continue as in person or as hybrid (online and in person) events. Please check our website listings and Twitter feed @STICERD_LSE for updates.
Unless otherwise specified, in-person seminars are open to the public.
Those unable to join the seminars in-person are welcome to participate via zoom if the event is hybrid.
About this event
We provide a general yet tractable model to derive revenue-optimal mechanisms in settings with allocation-dependent externalities. Such externalities are present in settings ranging from concerts and parties to fashion items and software to college and workplace experiences. Our framework allows for transfers and for screening through ordeals like waiting in line, joining a fan club, or completing lengthy applications. We elucidate when and how such seemingly wasteful actions enhance price discrimination in the presence of externalities. Ordeals effectively filter out undesirable customers or members in some settings. In other settings, ordeals can be leveraged to allocate to desirable consumers who may have low purchasing power. We find conditions under which optimal mechanisms create two classes of customers: those who pay with money and those who pay with effort (effort discrimination).
Economic Theory Seminars are held on Thursdays in term time at 15:30-17:00, both ONLINE and IN PERSON in SAL 3.05.
Seminar organisers: Dr Andrew Ellis and Dr Christopher Sandmann.
For further information please contact Sadia Ali: s.ali43@lse.ac.uk.
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This event will take place in MAR 6.33, 6th floor, The Marshall Building, 44 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London WC2A 3LY.
The building is labelled MAR on the map.
