Multiproduct Intermediaries
研究了消费者需求多样且存在搜索摩擦时，多产品中间商的盈利模式，发现即使不改善搜索效率也能获利，并分析了其对社会最优的偏离及对购物中心和上游直销的影响。
This paper develops a new framework for studying multiproduct intermediaries when consumers demand multiple products and face search frictions. We show that a multiproduct intermediary is profitable even when it does not improve consumer search efficiency. The intermediary optimally stocks high-value products exclusively to attract consumers to visit and then profits by selling nonexclusive products that are relatively cheap to buy from upstream suppliers. Relative to the social optimum, the intermediary tends to be too big and stock too many products exclusively. We use the framework to study the design of shopping malls and the impact of direct-to-consumer sales by upstream suppliers on the retail market.