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| Yan Chen, Teck-Hua Ho and Yong-Mi Kim |
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| ''Knowledge market design: a field experiment at Google Answers'' |
| ( 2010, Vol. 12 No.4 ) |
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| In a field experiment at Google Answers, we investigate the performance of price-based online knowledge markets by systematically manipulating prices. Specifically, we study the effects of price, tip, and a reputation system on both an answerer's effort and answer quality by posting real reference questions from the Internet Public Library on Google Answers under different pricing schemes. We find that a higher price leads to a significantly longer, but not better, answer, while an answerer with a higher reputation provides significantly better answers. Our results highlight the limitation of monetary incentives and the importance of reputation systems in knowledge market design. |
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| Keywords: knowledge market, Q&A site, field experiment,
reputation, reciprocity |
JEL: C9 - Design of Experiments: General
H4 - Publicly Provided Goods: General |
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| Manuscript Received : Nov 24 2008 | | Manuscript Accepted : Mar 08 2012 |
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