SELLING "MONEY" ON EBAY: A FIELD STUDY OF SURPLUS DIVISION
Type
working paper
Date Issued
2017-08-08
Author(s)
Abstract
We study the division of trade surplus in a natural field experiment conducted on German eBay. Acting as a seller, we offer Amazon gift cards with face values of up to 500 Euro. A random selection of buyers, the subjects of our experiment, make price offers according to the rules of eBay. Using a novel decomposition method, we infer the offered shares of trade surplus from the data and find that the average share proposed to the seller amounts to about 30%. Additionally, we document: (i) insignificant effects of the stake size; (ii) poor use of strategically relevant public information; and (iii) differences in behaviour between East and West German subjects.
Language
English
Keywords
Field experiment
ultimatum game
surplus division
bargaining
Internet trade
eBay.
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
HSG Profile Area
SEPS - Quantitative Economic Methods
Refereed
No
Publisher
NA
Subject(s)
Eprints ID
243446