We study a single queue joining equilibrium when there is uncertainty in the consumers' minds about the service rate and value. Without such uncertainty, the joining equilibria are characterized by means of a single threshold queue length above which consumers do not join (Naor, 1969). We show...

Problem Definition: We explore how to design professional services in markets that cater to customers with differential usage capabilities. Professional customers avail the service and tailor it to their use, whereas amateur customers, lacking the relevant expertise, obtain the service through a...

Customers looking for service providers often face search frictions and have to trade off quality and availability. To understand customers' search behavior when they are confronted with a large collection of vertically differentiated, congested service providers, we build a model in which...