Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in AbstractThis paper proposes an empirical model to analyze the effects of product differentiation on oligopoly market structure. Building on prior studies of entry, the model endogenizes firms' product-type decisions and measures how the effects of competitors differ depending on their product types. The model can also accommodate alternative specifications for how the product choice game among oligopolists is played. This permits evaluation of competing explanations for market differentiation outcomes. I estimate the model using data from a cross-section of oligopoly motel markets located along U.S. interstate highways. The motel industry is well-suited for analysis of product choice; firms are characterized by their choice of product quality, which is an important business strategy for motel establishments. The results demonstrate a strong incentive for firms to differentiate their products. The effects of demand characteristics on product choice are also significant. Game specification, however, is of minor importance, even though differences in how entry and product-type decisions are made affect equilibrium market structure predictions in some cases.1
Abstract-This paper analyzes the effect of market concentration and product differentiation on the observed outcomes of competition among oligopolists. The empirical framework is designed to examine whether competition is less intense in markets with equal levels of concentration but more differentiation among the products offered. A two-stage estimation procedure is proposed to address the endogeneity problem inherent in comparing outcomes across different market structures. I estimate the competitive effects using data from a cross section of oligopoly motel markets located along U.S. interstate highways. The results indicate that firms benefit substantially by offering differentiated products. The presence of any market competitor drives down prices, but the effect is much smaller when the competitor is a different product type. Differentiation is optimal product choice behavior because the resulting competition among firms is less tough when their products are differentiated.
This paper investigates empirically the product assortment strategies of oligopolistic firms. We develop a framework that integrates product choice and price competition in a differentiated product market. The present model significantly improves upon the reduced-form profit functions typically used in the entry and location choice literature, because the variable profits that enter the product-choice decision are derived from a structural model of demand and price competition. Given the heterogeneity in consumers' product valuations and responses to price changes, this is a critical element in the analysis of product assortment decisions. Relative to the literature on structural demand models, our results show that incorporating endogenous product choice is essential for policy simulations and may entail very different conclusions from settings where product assortment choices are held fixed. Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1077441 AbstractIn this paper, we take a first step toward exploring empirically the product assortment strategies of oligopolistic firms. Our starting point is a discretechoice demand model for differentiated products. We incorporate the demand model into an equilibrium supply model, in which firms compete by first choosing which products to offer and then by setting prices. We show how modeling joint product assortment and pricing decisions enriches standard product choice models by allowing insights into how demand characteristics affect firms' product offerings in a competitive environment. We furthermore demonstrate that incorporating endogenous product choice into demand models is essential for policy simulations (e.g., mergers) as it entails at times dramatically different welfare assessments than the common assumption that product assortments are exogenous.
Investments, Competition, Market structure, Banking industry, L11, L13, G21, G28,
We examine the role of differentiation among competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) in nearly 1,200 U.S. cities in 1999 and 2002, before and after a valuation crash affecting communications firms. We test and reject the null hypothesis of homogeneous competitors. We also find strong evidence that differentiated CLECs account for both potential market demand and the business strategies of competitors when making their entry decisions. Finally, product heterogeneity in markets in 1999 helps predict how the structure of markets evolved through 2002. We conclude that the policy debate for local telecommunications regulation should account for differentiated behavior.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.