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The Principal‐Agent Relationship in Real Estate Brokerage Services
Author(s) -
Arnold Michael A.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
real estate economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.064
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1540-6229
pISSN - 1080-8620
DOI - 10.1111/1540-6229.00573
Subject(s) - commission , real estate , principal (computer security) , consignment , incentive , principal–agent problem , business , microeconomics , competition (biology) , finance , economics , industrial organization , option fee , actuarial science , computer science , cost approach , marketing , real estate development , computer security , ecology , corporate governance , biology
This article investigates the principal‐agent relationship between the owner of a house and her real estate broker. The principal's (owner's) problem is to design a contract that induces the agent (broker) to adopt a selling strategy that maximizes the owner's expected return. A sequential search model is utilized to analyze this principal‐agent relationship. Three different systems for paying the broker are considered: fixed‐percentage commission, flat‐fee, and consignment. Both the discount factors of the owner and the broker and the net costs of ownership incurred while attempting to sell the house play a central role in determining the nature of the optimal contract. The analysis demonstrates that the fixed‐percentage commission system is the only one of the three systems considered that can induce a first‐best, incentive‐compatible contract. A numerical analysis provides insights regarding the effect of the fixed‐percentage commission system on competition in the real estate brokerage industry.