John wants to buy a used car. He knows that there are two types of car in the market, plums and lemons. Lemons are worse quality cars and are more likely to break down than plums. John is willing to pay £10, 000 for a plum and £2, 000 for a lemon. Unfortunately, however, he cannot distinguish between the two types. Sellers can offer a warranty that would cover the full cost of any repair needed by the car for y ∗ years. Considering the type and likelihood of problems their cars can have, owners of plums estimate that y years of guarantee would cost them 1000y, owners of lemons estimate that the cost would be 2000y. John knows these estimates and decides to offer £10, 000 if a car comes with y ∗ years of warranty, £2, 000 if a car comes without warranty. For which values of y ∗ is there a separating equilibrium where only owners of plums are willing to offer the y ∗ -years warranty? Clearly explain your reasoning.
John wants to buy a used car. He knows that there are two types of car in the market, plums and lemons. Lemons are worse quality cars and are more likely to break down than plums. John is willing to pay £10, 000 for a plum and £2, 000 for a lemon. Unfortunately, however, he cannot distinguish between the two types. Sellers can offer a warranty that would cover the full cost of any repair needed by the car for y ∗ years. Considering the type and likelihood of problems their cars can have, owners of plums estimate that y years of guarantee would cost them 1000y, owners of lemons estimate that the cost would be 2000y. John knows these estimates and decides to offer £10, 000 if a car comes with y ∗ years of warranty, £2, 000 if a car comes without warranty.
For which values of y ∗ is there a separating equilibrium where only owners of plums are willing to offer the y ∗ -years warranty? Clearly explain your reasoning.
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