Markets for Information: An Introduction
Name
infointro.pdf
Description
Submitted version
Size
839.06 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
20025bbd575c7d7cd432ef0793bae965
Author(s)
Bergemann, Dirk
Bonatti, Alessandro
Date Issued
August 2019
Journal
Annual review of economics
Publisher
Annual Reviews
Citation
Bergemann, Dirk and Alessandro Bonatti. “Markets for Information: An Introduction.” Annual review of economics, 11, 1 (August 2019): 85-107 © 2019 The Author(s)
Version
Original manuscript
Abstract
We survey a recent and growing literature on markets for information. We offer a comprehensive view of information markets through an integrated model of consumers, information intermediaries, and firms. The model embeds a large set of applications ranging from sponsored-search advertising to credit scores to information sharing among competitors. We then zoom in to one of the critical elements in the markets for information: the design of the information. We distinguish between ex ante sales of information (the buyer acquires an information structure) and ex post sales (the buyer pays for specific realizations). We relate this distinction to the different products that brokers, advertisers, and publishers use to trade consumer information online. We discuss the endogenous limits to the trade of information that derive from the potential adverse use of information to the consumers. Finally, we discuss recommender systems and other information filtering systems that use artificial intelligence to predict ratings or preferences in markets for indirect information.
MIT Department
Sloan School of Management
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1146/ANNUREV-ECONOMICS-080315-015439
