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Consumer privacy and the market for customer information
Abstract
I investigate consumer privacy and the market for customer information in electronic
retailing. The value of customer information derives from the ability of Internet
firms to identify individual consumers and charge them personalized prices. I study
two settings, a confidential regime in which the sale of customer information is not
possible, and a disclosure regime in which one firm may compile and sell a customer
list to another firm that uses it to price discriminate. Welfare comparisons depend
critically on whether consumers anticipate sale of the list and on demand elasticity.
Copyright © 2004, RAND.
Type
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/2627Collections
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Curtis R. Taylor
Professor of Economics
Taylor's primary research interest is microeconomic theory with emphasis on the areas
of Industrial Organization, Political Economy, and the Theory of Contracts. He has
worked on a variety of topics such as: the optimal design of research contests, the
causes and timing of market crashes, and consumer privacy. Professor Taylor's research
has been supported by grants from the National
Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board, am

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