Abstract
Distance-selling and off-premises contracts are two major ways in which consumers and sellers interact. Law and economics research has established that these interactions potentially suffer from market power of sellers, from both ex-ante and ex-post information asymmetries, and from consumer bounded rationality. The most promising tool analysed and advocated by law and economics scholars is a cooling-off period coupled with a right of the consumer to withdraw from the contract. This entry surveys law and economics research on these concerns. Interestingly, relevant questions to this line of research remain, which have been brought to attention mainly by insights from behavioral economics. To exemplify and inspire further research along these lines, this entry discusses potentially perverse incentives created by withdrawal rights and the impact of fairness concerns on the consumer choice to withdraw.
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Hoeppner, S. (2019). Distance Selling and Doorstep Contracts. In: Marciano, A., Ramello, G.B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Law and Economics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7753-2_537
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7753-2_537
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