{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,5]],"date-time":"2026-04-05T05:44:51Z","timestamp":1775367891951,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":61,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,10]],"date-time":"2021-10-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1633824000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JTAER"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The peer-to-peer lending market has developed rapidly over the past decade and reveals a severe problem of information asymmetry. This research constructed a four-party evolutionary game model to analyze the influence pathway of the guarantee mechanism on the users\u2019 participation of the peer-to-peer lending platform and conducted an empirical study applying the mediating effect model and simultaneous equation model based on data of China\u2019s peer-to-peer lending platform. The theoretical model shows that the guarantee mechanism reduced the participation of borrowers of the peer-to-peer lending platform through a screening effect, but increased the participation of investors through a signal effect. In the case of the platform self-guarantee, there existed a self-screening effect, whose influence on the participation of investors depended on the strength of external constraints imposed on the platform enterprises. Further, the empirical study shows that during the sample period, the platform self-guarantee mechanism reduced the scale of borrowers and investors of the peer-to-peer lending platform at the same time, thus reducing the transaction volume of the platform. Although the third-party guarantee mechanism reduced the scale of borrowers, it increased the scale of investors, and the comprehensive effect was to increase the transaction volume of the platform. On this basis, this research puts forward suggestions such as strengthening the qualification examination of the platform enterprises, transforming the platform self-guarantee mechanism into the third-party guarantee mechanism, and introducing more signal mechanisms.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jtaer16070149","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,10]],"date-time":"2021-10-10T21:19:32Z","timestamp":1633900772000},"page":"2708-2731","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":10,"title":["The Impact of Guarantees on Peer-to-Peer Lending Platform: Evolutionary Game Analysis and Empirical Evidence from China"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1730-5129","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zhicheng","family":"Weng","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Management, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China"},{"name":"Shanghai Gold Exchange, Shanghai 200010, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Pinliang","family":"Luo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Management, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"105","DOI":"10.2753\/JEC1086-4415150204","article-title":"Building Consumer-to-Consumer Trust in E-Finance Marketplaces: An Empirical Analysis","volume":"15","author":"Greiner","year":"2010","journal-title":"Int. J. Electron. Commer."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"12","DOI":"10.4067\/S0718-18762013000300003","article-title":"From e-commerce to social commerce: A framework to guide enabling cloud computing","volume":"8","author":"Baghdadi","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Theor. Appl. Electron. Commer. Res."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"52","DOI":"10.4067\/S0718-18762021000100105","article-title":"How individual investors react to negative events in the FinTech era? Evidence from China\u2019s Peer-to-Peer lending","volume":"16","author":"Chen","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Theor. Appl. Electron. Commer. Res."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4236","DOI":"10.1287\/mnsc.2016.2531","article-title":"Market mechanisms in online peer-to-peer lending","volume":"63","author":"Wei","year":"2017","journal-title":"Manag. Sci."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"640","DOI":"10.1111\/ajfs.12276","article-title":"The Impact of Venture Capital Investment on the Performance of Peer-to-Peer Lending Platforms: Evidence from China","volume":"48","author":"Gu","year":"2019","journal-title":"Asia-Pac. J. Financ. Stud."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100920","DOI":"10.1016\/j.elerap.2019.100920","article-title":"Understanding consumer intentions toward cross-border m-commerce usage: A psychological distance and commitment-trust perspective","volume":"39","author":"Cui","year":"2020","journal-title":"Electron. Commer. Res. Appl."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"668","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1756-2171.2006.tb00037.x","article-title":"Competition in two-sided markets","volume":"37","author":"Armstrong","year":"2006","journal-title":"RAND J. Econ."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"645","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1756-2171.2006.tb00036.x","article-title":"Two-sided markets: A progress report","volume":"37","author":"Rochet","year":"2006","journal-title":"RAND J. Econ."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"162","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijindorg.2015.03.003","article-title":"Multi-sided platforms","volume":"43","author":"Hagiu","year":"2015","journal-title":"Int. J. Ind. Organ."},{"key":"ref_10","first-page":"34","article-title":"Does the Internet make contribution to TFP of China?","volume":"10","author":"Guo","year":"2016","journal-title":"Manag. World"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Serrano-Cinca, C., Guti\u00e9rrez-Nieto, B., and L\u00f3pez-Palacios, L. (2015). Determinants of default in P2P lending. PLoS ONE, 10.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0139427"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"425","DOI":"10.1007\/s10796-017-9751-5","article-title":"Who can get money? Evidence from the Chinese peer-to-peer lending platform","volume":"19","author":"Tao","year":"2017","journal-title":"Inf. Syst. Front."},{"key":"ref_13","first-page":"114","article-title":"Research on the P2P Network Lending Platform Model","volume":"28","author":"Guo","year":"2014","journal-title":"China Bus. Mark."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"161","DOI":"10.1080\/10971475.2016.1159904","article-title":"Risks of p2p lending platforms in china: Modeling failure using a cox hazard model","volume":"49","author":"Li","year":"2016","journal-title":"Chin. Econ."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"115","DOI":"10.2202\/1446-9022.1113","article-title":"Merchant or Two-Sided Platform?","volume":"6","author":"Hagiu","year":"2007","journal-title":"Rev. Netw. Econ."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Weng, Z., and Luo, P. (2021). Supervision of the Default Risk of Online Car-Hailing Platform from an Evolutionary Game Perspective. Sustainability, 13.","DOI":"10.3390\/su13020555"},{"key":"ref_17","first-page":"1","article-title":"Transmission Path of VCs to Platform\u2019s Transaction Volume: A Mediating Effect Model","volume":"38","author":"Luo","year":"2018","journal-title":"Mod. Manag."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1902","DOI":"10.1016\/j.chb.2012.05.008","article-title":"A meta-analysis of mobile commerce adoption and the moderating effect of culture","volume":"28","author":"Zhang","year":"2012","journal-title":"Comput. Hum. Behav."},{"key":"ref_19","first-page":"125","article-title":"The Intelligent Investor: Not-Fully-Marketized Interest Rate and Risk Identify\u2014\u2014Evidence from P2P Lending","volume":"49","author":"Liao","year":"2014","journal-title":"Econ. Res. J."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"74","DOI":"10.2307\/3003320","article-title":"Moral hazard and observability","volume":"10","year":"1979","journal-title":"Bell J. Econ."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"469","DOI":"10.1016\/j.elerap.2012.05.003","article-title":"From the wisdom of crowds to my own judgment in microfinance through online peer-to-peer lending platforms","volume":"11","author":"Yum","year":"2012","journal-title":"Electron. Commer. Res. Appl."},{"key":"ref_22","unstructured":"Weng, Z. (2019). Research on the Platformization and Default Risk Governance of Sharing Economy. [Ph.D. Thesis, Fudan University]."},{"key":"ref_23","unstructured":"Rong, L. (2012). Research on Competition Strategy and Industry Regulation of Third-Party Payment Platform. [Ph.D. Thesis, Fudan University]."},{"key":"ref_24","first-page":"325","article-title":"The Antitrust Economics of Two-Sided Markets","volume":"20","author":"Evans","year":"2003","journal-title":"Yale J. Regul."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"225","DOI":"10.1093\/cesifo\/51.2-3.225","article-title":"A comment on Evans, Hagiu and Schmalensee","volume":"51","year":"2005","journal-title":"CESifo Econ. Stud."},{"key":"ref_26","first-page":"131","article-title":"Review of research on lemon market governance mechanism","volume":"3","author":"Zhou","year":"2010","journal-title":"Econ. Perspect."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"23","DOI":"10.2307\/3003485","article-title":"The Determination of Financial Structure: The Incentive Signaling Approach","volume":"8","author":"Ross","year":"1977","journal-title":"Bell J. Econ."},{"key":"ref_28","first-page":"1210","article-title":"The signaling behavior of three-player games on P2P platforms","volume":"40","author":"Gu","year":"2020","journal-title":"Syst. Eng.-Theory Pract."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"887","DOI":"10.1016\/0014-2921(87)90005-5","article-title":"The role of collateral in credit markets with imperfect information","volume":"31","author":"Bester","year":"1987","journal-title":"Eur. Econ. Rev."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"191","DOI":"10.1111\/1467-6419.00109","article-title":"On the use of collateral","volume":"14","author":"Coco","year":"2000","journal-title":"J. Econ. Surv."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1111\/1756-2171.12216","article-title":"Middlemen: The good, the bad, and the ugly","volume":"49","author":"Biglaiser","year":"2018","journal-title":"RAND J. Econ."},{"key":"ref_32","first-page":"60","article-title":"Research on the Efficiency Difference and the Influencing Factors of the Volume of P2P Loan Platform in China","volume":"35","author":"Jiang","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Quant. Tech. Econ."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2455","DOI":"10.1093\/rfs\/hhs071","article-title":"Trust and credit: The role of appearance in peer-to-peer lending","volume":"25","author":"Duarte","year":"2012","journal-title":"Rev. Financ. Stud."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"17","DOI":"10.1287\/mnsc.1120.1560","article-title":"Judging borrowers by the company they keep: Friendship networks and information asymmetry in online peer-to-peer lending","volume":"59","author":"Lin","year":"2013","journal-title":"Manag. Sci."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"495","DOI":"10.1016\/j.elerap.2012.02.001","article-title":"Herding behavior in online P2P lending: An empirical investigation","volume":"11","author":"Lee","year":"2012","journal-title":"Electron. Commer. Res. Appl."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"892","DOI":"10.1287\/mnsc.1110.1459","article-title":"Rational herding in microloan markets","volume":"58","author":"Zhang","year":"2012","journal-title":"Manag. Sci."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"729","DOI":"10.25300\/MISQ\/2015\/39.3.11","article-title":"Friendships in online peer-to-peer lending: Pipes, Prisms, and Relational Herding","volume":"39","author":"Liu","year":"2015","journal-title":"Mis Q."},{"key":"ref_38","first-page":"53","article-title":"What\u2019s in a Picture? Evidence of Discrimination from Prosper. com","volume":"46","author":"Pope","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Hum. Resour."},{"key":"ref_39","first-page":"54","article-title":"Regional Discrimination in Chinese Internet Finance","volume":"31","author":"Liao","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Quant. Tech. Econ."},{"key":"ref_40","first-page":"214","article-title":"Can improving the quality of information disclosure weaken the professional identity discrimination in the P2P lending market?","volume":"18","author":"Zhao","year":"2019","journal-title":"Transform. Bus. Econ."},{"key":"ref_41","first-page":"73","article-title":"Guarantee Mechanisms and Intermediary Nature of P2P Lending Market in China\u2014Model Construction and Quantitative Analysis Based on Investor Behavior","volume":"4","author":"Zhang","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nanjing Bus. Rev."},{"key":"ref_42","first-page":"72","article-title":"Research on network financing guarantee system construction","volume":"4","author":"Li","year":"2014","journal-title":"South China Financ."},{"key":"ref_43","first-page":"95","article-title":"Legal risk and prevention suggestions of the guarantee in P2P lending","volume":"11","author":"Chen","year":"2015","journal-title":"Leg. Syst. Soc."},{"key":"ref_44","first-page":"68","article-title":"Research on the model dissimilation and de-guarantee of P2P lending platform","volume":"1","author":"Zhang","year":"2018","journal-title":"South China Financ."},{"key":"ref_45","first-page":"13","article-title":"Peer-to-Peer Lending and Illegal Financing","volume":"6","author":"Peng","year":"2014","journal-title":"Financ. Regul. Res."},{"key":"ref_46","first-page":"1","article-title":"The influence of guarantee certification service of P2P lending on borrowing -- Taking Renrendai as an example","volume":"35","author":"Xiong","year":"2015","journal-title":"Mod. Manag."},{"key":"ref_47","first-page":"71","article-title":"The Risks of China\u2019s P2P Lending Models and Related Regulations","volume":"3","author":"Ye","year":"2014","journal-title":"Financ. Regul. Res."},{"key":"ref_48","first-page":"371","article-title":"Regulation of Information Disclosure and the Patterns of P2P Lending in China","volume":"16","author":"Zhang","year":"2017","journal-title":"China Econ. Q."},{"key":"ref_49","first-page":"12","article-title":"Evolutionary Game Analysis on Credit Risk Control in P2P Online Lending Platforms","volume":"30","author":"Gu","year":"2018","journal-title":"R D Manag."},{"key":"ref_50","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"15","DOI":"10.1038\/246015a0","article-title":"The logic of animal conflict","volume":"246","author":"Smith","year":"1973","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"145","DOI":"10.1016\/0025-5564(78)90077-9","article-title":"Evolutionary stable strategies and game dynamics","volume":"40","author":"Taylor","year":"1978","journal-title":"Math. Biosci."},{"key":"ref_52","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Smith, J.M. (1982). Evolution and the Theory of Games, Cambridge University Press.","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511806292"},{"key":"ref_53","unstructured":"Weibull, J.W. (1995). Evolutionary Game Theory, MIT Press."},{"key":"ref_54","first-page":"81","article-title":"Research on the application value of credit report in social governance","volume":"8","author":"Liu","year":"2020","journal-title":"South China Financ."},{"key":"ref_55","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1173","DOI":"10.1037\/0022-3514.51.6.1173","article-title":"The moderator\u2013mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations","volume":"51","author":"Baron","year":"1986","journal-title":"J. Personal. Soc. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_56","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"731","DOI":"10.3724\/SP.J.1042.2014.00731","article-title":"Analyses of Mediating Effects: The Development of Methods and Models","volume":"22","author":"Wen","year":"2014","journal-title":"Adv. Psychol. Sci."},{"key":"ref_57","first-page":"59","article-title":"An Empirical Study on the Transmission Mechanism between the Cross Network Effect and Non-neutrality Price in Duopoly P2P Market","volume":"37","author":"Xue","year":"2017","journal-title":"Mod. Financ. Econ.-J. Tianjin Univ. Financ. Econ."},{"key":"ref_58","unstructured":"Rong360 (2021, July 20). 22 Peer-to-Peer Lending Platforms Hold the Small-Loan License: The Transformation Is Not Easy. Available online: https:\/\/www.rong360.com\/news\/2019\/02\/01\/176528.html."},{"key":"ref_59","first-page":"23","article-title":"VC, The Third-Party Escrow and the Trading Volume of the P2P Lending Platforms in China\u2014Analysis from the Perspective of the P2P Investors","volume":"34","author":"Lu","year":"2015","journal-title":"Rev. Invest. Stud."},{"key":"ref_60","first-page":"18","article-title":"Analysis of the Features of P2P Network Lending Platforms and Lending Effect in China","volume":"38","author":"Wang","year":"2018","journal-title":"Mod. Manag."},{"key":"ref_61","unstructured":"Wooldridge, J.M. (2010). Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data. MIT Press."}],"container-title":["Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/0718-1876\/16\/7\/149\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T07:11:24Z","timestamp":1760166684000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/0718-1876\/16\/7\/149"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,10]]},"references-count":61,"journal-issue":{"issue":"7","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,12]]}},"alternative-id":["jtaer16070149"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/jtaer16070149","relation":{},"ISSN":["0718-1876"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0718-1876","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,10,10]]}}}