CREDENCE GOODS MARKETS WITH CONSCIENTIOUS AND SELFISH EXPERTS*

In a credence good market, sellers know more about buyers’ necessity of the good. Because of this information asymmetry, a selfish seller may exaggerate buyers’ necessity of the good. This article investigates how the presence of conscientious experts affects selfish experts’ behavior. In a monopoly setting, it shows that the presence of a conscientious expert may result in more fraudulent behavior by the selfish expert. This result holds in a competitive setting.