Theoretical Economics

Journal of the Econometric Society

Edited by: Federico Echenique • ISSN (e): 1555-7561 • ISSN (print): 1933-6837

Theoretical Economics: May, 2026, Volume 21, Issue 2

How to segment a search market: information design and directed search

https://doi.org/10.3982/TE5350
Correction added on 10 June 2026, after first online publication: A citation was updated and a proof underwent a minor correction.
p. 434-466

Teddy Mekonnen

This paper examines when the public provision of information in search markets improves welfare. I consider a two‐sided frictional search market in which buyers match with vertically differentiated sellers. The market is segmented into submarkets based on seller types. Such segmentation serves as a public signal that buyers use to direct their search. Given a segmentation, I characterize both the socially efficient and the equilibrium allocation of buyers across submarkets, and identify a Hosios‐type condition under which the equilibrium allocation is efficient. I then analyze the design of surplus‐maximizing segmentations, showing that the nature of search externalities determines when the constrained‐efficient segmentation fully separates seller types or pools them into at most a binary partition.


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