Pairing provision price and default remedy: optimal two-stage procurement with private R&D efficiency

摘要

This article studies cost-minimizing two-stage procurement with Research and Development (R&D). The principal wishes to procure a product from an agent. At the first stage, the agent can conduct R&D to discover a more cost-efficient production technology. First-stage R&D efficiency and effort and the realized second-stage production cost are the agent's private information. The optimal two-stage mechanism is implemented by a menu of single-stage contracts, each specifying a fixed provision price and remedy paid by a defaulting agent. A higher delivery price is paired with a higher default remedy, and a more efficient type opts for a higher price and higher remedy.