Dynamic contracting under adverse selection and renegotiation

Abstract

We study the effects of renegotiation in an infinitely-repeated screening model with long-term contracts. We propose a simple and tractable recursive formulation to study equilibria in which the monopolist's profit is maximized after every history. We show that the monopolist sequentially screens high-type consumers and characterize second-degree price discrimination policies. The monopolist's ability to extract rent from high-type consumers by distorting the allocation of low-type consumers vanishes as all parties become more patient. As a result, all distortions disappear and the allocation becomes efficient. © 2017 Elsevier Inc.