信息经济学“柠檬市场”.doc

The Market for "Lemons": Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism Author(s): e A. Akerlof Source: The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 84, No. 3 (Aug., 1970), pp. 488-500 Published by: The MIT Press Stable URL: ble/1879431 Accessed: 07/05/2010 22:08 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at e/info/about/policies/. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue ofa journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, mercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at ion/showPublisher?publisherCode=mitpress. Each copy of any part ofa JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR isa not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content ina trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact ******@. The MIT Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Quarterly Journal of Economics. MARKET FOR "LEMONS": QUALITY UNCERTAINTY AND THE MARKET MECHANISM * E A. AKERLOF I. Introduction, 488.-II. The model with automobiles as an example, 489.- III. Examples and applications, 492.- IV. Counteracting institutions, 499. -V. Conclusion, 500. I. INTRODUCrION This paper relates quality and uncertainty. The existence of goods of many grades poses interesting and important problems for the theory of markets. On the one hand, the interaction of quality differences and uncertainty may explain important institutions of the labor market. On the other hand, this paper