This paper studies obfuscation decisions by firms in retail financial markets theoretically and experimentally. We show … that more prominent firms are more likely to obfuscate. While prominent firms always choose maximum obfuscation, the … obfuscation by less prominent firms depends on the degree of asymmetry in prominence and consumer protection policy. We evaluate …

that policy measures may have unintended effects of increasing obfuscation incentives. We find that policies that limit the … effectiveness of obfuscation and policies that promote parity between firms can lead less prominent firms to increase their … obfuscation efforts. Despite this unintended effect, however, the former type of policies is effective in boosting consumer …

This paper presents a study of obfuscation practices in location-sharing systems. The study shows that users have … preferences also require multiple levels of obfuscation (ranging from disclosing no location information to disclosing the exact … utilize the full range of obfuscation options, from high-level region to exact address, which further demonstrates the …

functions are endogenously determined by the consumers' optimal information strategy, which depends on the firms' obfuscation … choice and the consumers' unrestricted prior beliefs. We show that the game may result in an obfuscation equilibrium with … high prices where both firms obfuscate and a transparency equilibrium with low prices and no obfuscation, providing an …