The Sharing Economy and the 'Lemons Problem'

Government regulation is often explained as consumer protection in cases involving asymmetric information: situations when sellers know more about their product than potential buyers do. Proponents of consumer protection regulations argue that if buyers know sellers can withhold key information about a product, meaning buyers are unable to distinguish between good and bad purchases ahead of time, lower-quality products will dominate the market because consumers will be less willing to make purchases. The fear is that without regulations buyers and sellers will not make beneficial exchanges.