Costly Information Intermediation: Quality vs. Spillovers

We analyze information intermediaries in large economies with costly information acquisition. Intermediaries face a trade-off between quality and dissemination speed. Both altruistic policymakers and profit-maximizing monopolists optimally choose to sample limited information, increasing the number of partially informed agents and enhancing spillovers despite slower information accumulation. Altruistic information-sharing bureaus minimize fees by inducing low provider default rates, while monopolist bureaus maximize fees through higher faulty service rates. Information trade resembles a natural monopoly, where competition reduces efficiency through redundant costs and lower information spillovers. These findings inform regulatory design in platforms and information-intensive markets.