Middlemen as Experts

Un análisis económico de la intermediación en el sector turístico

“…Un intermediario puede ser un 'experto' que ha adquirido los conocimientos y las habilidades adecuadas para evaluar la calidad del bien o servicio en cuestión (Biglaiser, 1993). Este tipo de intermediación es especialmente importante en entornos en los que el uso y el consumo del bien no son suficientes para evaluar la calidad de un bien; por ejemplo, algunos minoristas evalúan la calidad de un reproductor de DVD.…”

Intermediation and Matching in Insurance Markets

“…However, side-contracting with only one insurance company is suboptimal if intermediation is pro…table with k 1 4 t. In this situation, performing the risk analysis and matching every consumer with the appropriate provider of insurance coverage increases the extractable rent and social welfare by 1 4 t k. The broker will therefore o¤er a bonus contract B mf j (t) = max (D j t; 0) to each insurance company together with the fee-for-advice f mf = 1 4 t for uninformed consumers. Both insurance companies weakly prefer to accept the bonus contract and uninformed consumers also weakly prefer to accept the fee-for-advice, because they will be matched with the appropriate insurance company with mf = 0.…”

“…As studied by Biglaiser (1993), middlemen are usually experts with superior information about market conditions and product characteristics. Hence, they may enhance market e¢ ciency by providing consulting services for market participants.…”

“…In one rather prominent case, collusion between one of the biggest American insurance brokers and several insurance 2 companies took place. 1 A coalition of commercial insurance companies agreed to pay contingent commissions for brokers, and in return, the receiving brokers presented their consumers high premium pseudo-o¤ers from other coalition members. Partly in response to the above-mentioned incident, regulatory changes have been introduced around the world.…”

“…In this paper, we are concentrating on lines of insurance where the broker is mainly concerned with adequate matching and the broker's role in collecting and providing information for the insurer 1 See, e.g., Ruquet and Hays (2004 4 See, German Ministry of Justice, "Bundestag adopts new law on insurance contracts," Press Release, July 5, 2007. 3 is of minor importance. Examples may be certain markets for life and property-liability insurance, where products are complex for the consumer and the main task for a broker is …nding an adequate product.…”