Price and Nonprice Information Frictions in Regional Arbitrage: The Case of Rice Traders in Antananarivo, Madagascar
研究了马达加斯加塔那那利佛大米贸易商的区域套利模式，发现多数贸易商并未按最低价采购，提供价格信息未能改善套利，非价格信息摩擦（如质量不确定性和信任问题）是主要障碍。
Traders’ arbitrage is crucial for regional market integration. We investigate the patterns of regional arbitrage of rice traders in Antananarivo, Madagascar. On the basis of a trader-level biweekly survey, we find that most traders do not buy rice at the lowest price including observed transportation costs. Random provision of regional price information, intended to reduce search costs, did not improve arbitrage performance. Traders continue trading with districts that they are used to because they worry about quality uncertainty and the trustworthiness of new partners. These findings suggest that nonprice information frictions are important obstacles of regional arbitrage and market integration.