THE HIDDEN COST OF BARGAINING: EVIDENCE FROM A CHEATING‐PRONE MARKETPLACE
通过田野实验发现，在卖家可能短斤少两的市场中，讨价还价反而降低了买家剩余，因为卖家在买家讨价还价时作弊更多，且讨价还价成功时作弊更多。
Abstract It is widely believed that successful bargaining helps consumers increase their surplus. We present evidence from a field experiment showing that bargaining over price reduces buyer surplus in a marketplace where sellers cheat on the weight whose value may more than offset the price discount. Our results show that bargaining entails hidden costs since sellers cheat significantly more when buyers bargain than not and they cheat significantly more when bargaining succeeds than fails. Overall bargaining reduces buyer surplus than not bargaining. Our result is relevant for credence goods markets where bargaining over prices may induce sellers to “undertreat” more.