The Market for Lemons
E1046130
The Market for Lemons is a seminal 1970 economics paper that introduced the concept of information asymmetry to explain how quality uncertainty can cause markets to break down.
All labels observed (5)
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T13547255 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: The Market for Lemons Context triple: [George A. Akerlof, notableWork, The Market for Lemons]
-
A.
A Theory of Incentives in Procurement and Regulation (with Jean-Jacques Laffont)
A Theory of Incentives in Procurement and Regulation is a foundational economics book that develops a rigorous principal–agent framework for designing optimal contracts and regulatory mechanisms in public procurement and regulated industries.
-
B.
The Theory of Industrial Organization
The Theory of Industrial Organization is a foundational economics textbook by Jean Tirole that systematically develops modern industrial organization theory using game-theoretic tools.
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C.
Markets and Hierarchies: Analysis and Antitrust Implications
Markets and Hierarchies: Analysis and Antitrust Implications is a seminal 1975 book in transaction cost economics that examines how firms and markets are structured and the implications of these organizational forms for antitrust policy.
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D.
Walrasian market-clearing framework
The Walrasian market-clearing framework is a general equilibrium model in which perfectly competitive markets continuously adjust prices so that supply equals demand in all markets simultaneously.
-
E.
Rubinstein bargaining model
The Rubinstein bargaining model is a foundational game-theoretic framework that analyzes how two parties reach agreement over time through alternating offers under the influence of impatience and strategic delay.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: The Market for Lemons Target entity description: The Market for Lemons is a seminal 1970 economics paper that introduced the concept of information asymmetry to explain how quality uncertainty can cause markets to break down.
-
A.
A Theory of Incentives in Procurement and Regulation (with Jean-Jacques Laffont)
A Theory of Incentives in Procurement and Regulation is a foundational economics book that develops a rigorous principal–agent framework for designing optimal contracts and regulatory mechanisms in public procurement and regulated industries.
-
B.
The Theory of Industrial Organization
The Theory of Industrial Organization is a foundational economics textbook by Jean Tirole that systematically develops modern industrial organization theory using game-theoretic tools.
-
C.
Markets and Hierarchies: Analysis and Antitrust Implications
Markets and Hierarchies: Analysis and Antitrust Implications is a seminal 1975 book in transaction cost economics that examines how firms and markets are structured and the implications of these organizational forms for antitrust policy.
-
D.
Walrasian market-clearing framework
The Walrasian market-clearing framework is a general equilibrium model in which perfectly competitive markets continuously adjust prices so that supply equals demand in all markets simultaneously.
-
E.
Rubinstein bargaining model
The Rubinstein bargaining model is a foundational game-theoretic framework that analyzes how two parties reach agreement over time through alternating offers under the influence of impatience and strategic delay.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
academic paper
ⓘ
economics paper ⓘ microeconomics paper ⓘ |
| addressesProblem | failure of competitive markets under asymmetric information ⓘ |
| author |
George Akerlof
ⓘ
linked to:
George A. Akerlof
|
| citedFor |
analysis of quality uncertainty in used car markets
ⓘ
formalization of adverse selection in markets ⓘ |
| contributesTo |
theory of adverse selection
ⓘ
theory of information economics ⓘ theory of market failure ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin |
United States
ⓘ
linked to:
United States of America
|
| defines |
lemons as low-quality goods
ⓘ
peaches as high-quality goods ⓘ |
| explains |
how asymmetric information can cause market breakdown
ⓘ
how low prices drive high-quality goods out of the market ⓘ how only low-quality goods remain traded ⓘ how quality uncertainty lowers average price ⓘ how sellers know more about product quality than buyers ⓘ |
| field |
economics
ⓘ
microeconomics ⓘ |
| focusesOn | used car market ⓘ |
| hasImpact | changed understanding of how information affects markets ⓘ |
| hasJELClassification |
D80
ⓘ
D82 ⓘ |
| influencedField |
contract theory
ⓘ
financial economics ⓘ health economics ⓘ industrial organization ⓘ labor economics ⓘ |
| introducesTerm | lemons ⓘ |
| isConsidered |
classic paper in microeconomics
ⓘ
seminal paper in information economics ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| mainConcept |
adverse selection
ⓘ
information asymmetry ⓘ market failure ⓘ quality uncertainty ⓘ |
| originalTitle |
The Market for "Lemons": Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism
ⓘ
linked to:
The Market for Lemons
|
| proposes | that average quality in a market can decline due to information asymmetry ⓘ |
| publicationYear | 1970 ⓘ |
| publishedIn | Quarterly Journal of Economics ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for George Akerlof
ⓘ
moral hazard ⓘ screening ⓘ signaling ⓘ |
| shows | that some markets may not exist when quality is uncertain ⓘ |
| usesExample | used cars ⓘ |
| yearFirstCirculated | 1967 ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: The Market for Lemons Description of subject: The Market for Lemons is a seminal 1970 economics paper that introduced the concept of information asymmetry to explain how quality uncertainty can cause markets to break down.
Referenced by (6)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
George A. Akerlof
→
knownFor
→
The Market for Lemons: Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism
ⓘ
linked to: The Market for Lemons
subject linked to:
Akerlof
linked to: The Market for Lemons
George A. Akerlof
→
notableWork
→
"The Market for Lemons: Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism"
ⓘ
subject linked to:
Akerlof
linked to: The Market for Lemons
The Market for Lemons
→
originalTitle
→
The Market for "Lemons": Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism
ⓘ
linked to: The Market for Lemons
subject linked to:
Koshland Professor of Economics at UC Berkeley