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Managerial Economics Unit 6: Oligopoly
Managerial Economics Unit 6: Oligopoly Rudolf Winter-Ebmer Johannes Kepler University Linz Summer Term 2019 Managerial Economics: Unit 6 - Oligopoly1 / 45 OBJECTIVES Explain how managers of firms that operate in an oligopoly market can use strategic decision-making to maintain relatively high profits Understand how the reactions of market rivals influence the effectiveness of decisions in an oligopoly market Managerial Economics: Unit 6 - Oligopoly2 / 45 Oligopoly A market with a small number of firms (usually big) Oligopolists \know" each other Characterized by interdependence and the need for managers to explicitly consider the reactions of rivals Protected by barriers to entry that result from government, economies of scale, or control of strategically important resources Managerial Economics: Unit 6 - Oligopoly3 / 45 Strategic interaction Actions of one firm will trigger re-actions of others Oligopolist must take these possible re-actions into account before deciding on an action Therefore, no single, unified model of oligopoly exists I Cartel I Price leadership I Bertrand competition I Cournot competition Managerial Economics: Unit 6 - Oligopoly4 / 45 COOPERATIVE BEHAVIOR: Cartel Cartel: A collusive arrangement made openly and formally I Cartels, and collusion in general, are illegal in the US and EU. I Cartels maximize profit by restricting the output of member firms to a level that the marginal cost of production of every firm in the cartel is equal to the market's marginal revenue and then charging the market-clearing price. F Behave like a monopoly I The need to allocate output among member firms results in an incentive for the firms to cheat by overproducing and thereby increase profit. -
The Three Types of Collusion: Fixing Prices, Rivals, and Rules Robert H
University of Baltimore Law ScholarWorks@University of Baltimore School of Law All Faculty Scholarship Faculty Scholarship 2000 The Three Types of Collusion: Fixing Prices, Rivals, and Rules Robert H. Lande University of Baltimore School of Law, [email protected] Howard P. Marvel Ohio State University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.law.ubalt.edu/all_fac Part of the Antitrust and Trade Regulation Commons, and the Law and Economics Commons Recommended Citation The Three Types of Collusion: Fixing Prices, Rivals, and Rules, 2000 Wis. L. Rev. 941 (2000) This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at ScholarWorks@University of Baltimore School of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@University of Baltimore School of Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ARTICLES THE THREE TYPES OF COLLUSION: FIXING PRICES, RIVALS, AND RULES ROBERTH. LANDE * & HOWARDP. MARVEL** Antitrust law has long held collusion to be paramount among the offenses that it is charged with prohibiting. The reason for this prohibition is simple----collusion typically leads to monopoly-like outcomes, including monopoly profits that are shared by the colluding parties. Most collusion cases can be classified into two established general categories.) Classic, or "Type I" collusion involves collective action to raise price directly? Firms can also collude to disadvantage rivals in a manner that causes the rivals' output to diminish or causes their behavior to become chastened. This "Type 11" collusion in turn allows the colluding firms to raise prices.3 Many important collusion cases, however, do not fit into either of these categories. -
Buyer Power: Is Monopsony the New Monopoly?
COVER STORIES Antitrust , Vol. 33, No. 2, Spring 2019. © 2019 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association. Buyer Power: Is Monopsony the New Monopoly? BY DEBBIE FEINSTEIN AND ALBERT TENG OR A NUMBER OF YEARS, exists—or only when it can also be shown to harm consumer commentators have debated whether the United welfare; (2) historical case law on monopsony; (3) recent States has a monopoly problem. But as part of the cases involving monopsony issues; and (4) counseling con - recent conversation over the direction of antitrust siderations for monopsony issues. It remains to be seen law and the continued appropriateness of the con - whether we will see significantly increased enforcement Fsumer welfare standard, the debate has turned to whether the against buyer-side agreements and mergers that affect buyer antitrust agencies are paying enough attention to monopsony power and whether such enforcement will be successful, but issues. 1 A concept that appears more in textbooks than in case what is clear is that the antitrust enforcement agencies will be law has suddenly become mainstream and practitioners exploring the depth and reach of these theories and clients should be aware of developments when they counsel clients must be prepared for investigations and enforcement actions on issues involving supply-side concerns. implicating these issues. This topic is not going anywhere any time soon. -
35 Measuring Oligopsony and Oligopoly Power in the US Paper Industry Bin Mei and Changyou Sun Abstract
Measuring Oligopsony and Oligopoly Power in the U.S. Paper Industry Bin Mei and Changyou Sun1 Abstract: The U.S. paper industry has been increasingly concentrated ever since the 1950s. Such an industry structure may be suspected of imperfect competition. This study applied the new empirical industrial organization (NEIO) approach to examine the market power in the U.S. paper industry. The econometric analysis consisted of the identification and estimation of a system of equations including a production function, market demand and supply functions, and two conjectural elasticities indicating the industry’s oligopsony and oligopoly power. By employing annual data from 1955 to 2003, the above system of equations was estimated by Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) procedure. The analysis indicated the presence of oligopsony power but no evidence of oligopoly power over the sample period. Keywords: Conjectural elasticity; GMM; Market power; NEIO Introduction The paper sector (NAICS 32-SIC 26) has been the largest among the lumber, furniture, and paper sectors in the U.S. forest products industry. According to the latest Annual Survey of Manufacturing in 2005, the value of shipments for paper manufacturing reached $163 billion or a 45% share of the total forest products output (U.S. Bureau of Census, 2005). Thus, the paper sector has played a vital role in the U.S. forest products industry. However, spatial factors such as the cost of transporting products between sellers and buyers can mitigate the forces necessary to support perfect competition (Murray, 1995a). This is particularly true in markets for agricultural and forest products. For example, timber and logs are bulky and land-intensive in nature, thus leading to high logging service fees. -
Corporate Disclosure As a Tacit Coordination Mechanism: Evidence from Cartel Enforcement Regulations∗
Corporate Disclosure as a Tacit Coordination Mechanism: Evidence from Cartel Enforcement Regulations∗ Thomas Bourveau Guoman She Alminas Zaldokasˇ This version: September 2019 - First version: October 2016 Abstract We empirically study how collusion in product markets affects firms’ financial disclosure strategies. We find that after a rise in cartel enforcement, U.S. firms start sharing more detailed information in their financial disclosure about their customers, contracts, and products. This new information potentially benefits peers by helping to tacitly coordinate actions in product markets. Indeed, changes in disclosure are associated with higher future profitability. Our results highlight the potential conflict between securities and antitrust regulations. Keywords: Financial Disclosure, Antitrust Enforcement, Collusion, Tacit Coordination JEL Classification: D43, G38, M41, L15, L41 ∗Bourveau is at Columbia Business School. She and Zaldokasˇ are at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). Thomas Bourveau: [email protected]; Guoman She: [email protected]; Alminas Zaldokas:ˇ [email protected]. We thank our editor Haresh Sapra and the anonymous referee for their constructive comments and guidance. We thank our discussants Julian Atanassov, Luzi Hail, Rachel Hayes, Gerard Hoberg, Hyo Kang, Vardges Levonyan, Xi Li, Tse-Chun Lin, Tim Loughran, Mike Minnis, Vladimir Mukharlyamov, Vikram Nanda, Kevin Tseng, Jiang Xuefeng, and Xintong Zhan for comments that helped to improve this paper. We also thank Sumit Agarwal, Phil Berger, Jeremy Bertomeu, Matthias Breuer, Jason Chen, Hans Christensen, Anna Costello, Sudipto Dasgupta, Wouter Dessein, Hila Fogel-Yaari, Joey Engelberg, Eric Floyd, Yuk-Fai Fong, Jonathan Glover, Kai Wai Hui, Bruno Jullien, Christian Leuz, J¯uraLiaukonyt_e, Daniele Macciocchi, Nathan Miller, Jeff Ng, Kasper Meisner Nielsen, Giorgo Sertsios, Daniel D. -
Antoine-Augustine Cournot: His Duopoly Problem with a Re- Appraisal of His Duopoly Price and His Influence Upon Leon Alrw As
University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 1968 Antoine-Augustine Cournot: His duopoly problem with a re- appraisal of his duopoly price and his influence upon Leon alrW as David M. Dodge The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Dodge, David M., "Antoine-Augustine Cournot: His duopoly problem with a re-appraisal of his duopoly price and his influence upon Leon alrW as" (1968). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 8753. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/8753 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Al'îTCINS-AUGUSTINE COÜRKOTi HIS DUOPOLY PROBLEM ra'IH A RS-APPPAI3AL OF HIS DUOPOLY PRICE AND HIS INFLUENCE UPON LEON WALRAS By David M. Dodge B.A. j, University of Montana, 1968 Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts UNIVERSITY OF MONTAÎSA 1968 Approved bys Cî^cii ZTOsn ard of Examiners Air X ] Date Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: EP39554 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. -
Relationship Between Public and Private Antitrust Enforcement, Note by the United States Submitted to the OECD Competition Commi
Unclassified DAF/COMP/WP3/WD(2015)11 Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Économiques Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 09-Jun-2015 ___________________________________________________________________________________________ _____________ English - Or. English DIRECTORATE FOR FINANCIAL AND ENTERPRISE AFFAIRS COMPETITION COMMITTEE Unclassified DAF/COMP/WP3/WD(2015)11 Working Party No. 3 on Co-operation and Enforcement RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ANTITRUST ENFORCEMENT -- United States -- 15 June 2015 This document reproduces a written contribution from the United States submitted for Item III of the 121st meeting of the Working Party No. 3 on Co-operation and Enforcement on 15 June 2015. More documents related to this discussion can be found at: http://www.oecd.org/daf/competition/antitrust- enforcement-in-competition.htm Please contact Ms. Naoko Teranishi if you have any questions regarding this document [phone number: +33 1 45 24 83 52 -- E-mail address: [email protected]]. English JT03378179 Complete document available on OLIS in its original format - This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of Or. English international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. DAF/COMP/WP3/WD(2015)11 -- United States -- 1. The United States relies on a combination of federal, state,1 and private enforcers to combat anticompetitive conduct.2 The three enforcement groups play different, yet complementary, roles. Federal and state competition law enforcers have similar missions – to protect the public from the harms flowing from anticompetitive conduct. Federal enforcement seeks to protect the interests of all consumers across the nation or within interstate commerce, while state enforcers focus their efforts on the consumers in their respective states. -
Criminalising Cartel Activity: Lessons from the US Experience
Criminalising cartel activity: Lessons from the US experience William Kolasky* The Federal Government has proposed the introduction of criminal sanctions for entities and individuals involved in anti-competitive cartel activity. In this comment, the author provides an historical introduction and overview of the equivalent provisions in the United States. The view put forward is that criminal sanctions are critical as a response to cartel behaviour, with this having the corresponding effect of making compliance programs far more significant as well as placing a greater onus on the legal profession. International cooperation and the role of leniency policies within the regulatory environment will also become increasingly important. Introduction Cartel enforcement in Australia has been on the rise in recent years, most recently aided by the implementation of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) amnesty program in June 2003. Under the existing civil penalty regime in Australia, corporations involved in cartels face pecuniary penalties of up to AUS$10 million per contravention, while their executives face penalties of up to AUS$500,000 per contravention. On 24 June 2004, the Australian Federal Government introduced legislation to amend the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) (TPA) in response to the Dawson Report to further stiffen the sanctions for cartel behaviour. The proposed amendments would introduce criminal sanctions, including jail terms, for individuals for ‘hard-core’ cartel behaviour, as well as substantially increase the maximum fines for corporations. The maximum penalty for corporations would increase from its current level to the greater of AUS$10 million, three times the gain from the contravention, or where the gain cannot be readily ascertained, 10% of the group’s annual Australian turnover. -
U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FEDERALTRADE COMMISSION DEPARTMENTOF JUSTICE Washington, DC 20580 Washington, DC 20530 January 1 1,2008 Competition Policy Review Panel 280 Albert Street, 1oth Floor Ottawa, ON KIA OH5 CANADA Dear Members of the Review Panel: The Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission, the two counterparts in the United States to Canada's Competition Bureau, have followed with great interest the creation of the Competition Policy Review Panel and the publication of its consultation paper, Sharpening Canada's Competitive Edge. We recently completed an analogous process in the United States, with the April 2007 release of the Report and Recommendations of the Antitrust Modernization ~ornmission.' The Competition Law chapter of the Consultation Report mentions four topics with which we have considerable experience: the standard of review for criminal cartel conspiracies, whether international competitiveness benefits from a policy that favors domestic competitors, the treatment of efficiencies in merger analysis, and the power to conduct market studies. We offer our perspective on these topics in the remainder of this letter.2 1 See http:ilwww.amc.go~~ireportrecommendatiodamc ha1 report.pdf. Canada's Commissioner of Competition participated in that process and provided a very useful perspective from a thoughtful external observer of our system. These comments are provided in a reciprocal spirit. 2 Ths letter represents the views of the Department of Justice and the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, and does not necessarily represent the views of the Commission itself or any other Commissioner. The Per Se Standard for Hard Core cartels3 Section 45 of Canada's Competition Act prohibits conspiracies that unduly prevent or lessen competition. -
International Competition Network Update
ICN UPDATE International Competition Network update Maria Coppola Tineo US Federal Trade Commission, International Antitrust Division1 October 2006 marks the fifth anniversary of the establishment of chaired by the US Department of Justice (DoJ), presented a merger the International Competition Network (ICN), an international guidelines workbook, designed to be a practical guide for analys• body devoted exclusively to competition policy and its enforce• ing the competition effects of mergers, and an Implementation ment. During the past five years, the ICN has established momen• Handbook. The handbook is intended to facilitate implemen• tum that shows no signs of abating, as it continues to expand tation of the Recommended Practices for Merger Notification its membership, improve participation and broaden its agenda. and Review Procedures, containing examples of legislative text The antitrust agencies of the Americas play a prominent role in and rules that conform to these Practices. The MWG announced the organisation, representing 20 of the ICN’s 99 members. The its work plan for the coming year, including a project that will hemisphere is particularly well-represented in the leadership of explore prospects for substantive convergence and planning one the ICN. The Canadian Competition Bureau and the Mexican or more workshops, possibly in Latin America. Comisión Federal de Competencia (CFC) chaired the ICN from This past year’s anti-cartel work included an examination of 2001 to 2004, and today more than half of the chairs of the work• issues raised by the obstruction of cartel investigations, an evalu• ing groups or subgroups are from the Americas. ation of electronic evidence-gathering techniques, development During the past year, the ICN has delivered substantial, con• of tips for an effective leniency programme, and a review of the crete results, many of which were presented at the annual con• interaction of private and public enforcement. -
B21-2015 Memorial Resolution
B21-2015 MEMORIAL RESOLUTION PROFESSOR EMERITUS IRVIN MILLMAN GROSSACK (April 25, 1927 – March 4, 2013) Professor Irvin Grossack was born in 1927 in the city of New York. After completing his secondary education at the Bronx High School of Science, he entered the City University of New York where he received a bachelors degree in economics in 1952. After graduation, he worked as a research assistant at the National Bureau of Economic Research in New York City (1954), as an Economic Statistician at the Bureau of the Census in Suitland, Maryland (1955-59) and as a Senior Economist at C.E.I.R., Inc. in Arlington, Virginia (1959-62). He completed his PhD in economics at Columbia University in 1962, and in the same year he moved with his young family to Bloomington, Indiana to join the Department of Business Economics and Public Policy at the Indiana University School of Business, where he taught until his retirement. On a leave of absence from IU, he spent three years (1966-68) in New Delhi, India as a Program Economist for the US-AID Mission (1966-68). Professor Grossack’s research centered in microeconomics and the history of economic thought. His best work was on industrial organization. Here is a selected sample of his most significant writing. In the “The Concept and Measurement of Permanent Industrial Organization” (Journal of Political Economy, 1972, 80:745-760), Grossack argues that the monopoly power of large firms should be judged by their ability to stop smaller firms from entering the market rather than by static and backward-looking measures of concentration. -
Antoine Augustin Cournot: the Pioneer of Modern Economic Ideas
Munich Personal RePEc Archive Antoine Augustin Cournot: The Pioneer of Modern Economic Ideas Hossain, Md. Mobarak and Chowdhury, Md Niaz Murshed University of Nevada, Reno, Department of Economics, 1664 N. Virginia Street, Reno, NV 89557, USA. 24 December 2018 Online at https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/90829/ MPRA Paper No. 90829, posted 31 Dec 2018 14:30 UTC Antoine Augustin Cournot: The Pioneer of Modern Economic Ideas Md. Mobarak Hossain 1 Md Niaz Murshed Chowdhury 2 Abstract Augustin Cournot, an unsung pioneer of many economic ideas during his time, who has written the book, Theory of Wealth, where he developed many economic ideas including the oligopoly theory, doupoly model, the ideas of function and probability into economic analysis. This paper discusses the way he thought the economics should be analyzed as well as his life cycle. Introduction Antoine Augustin Cournot (28 August 1801 – 31 March 1877) was a French philosopher and mathematician who also has great contribution to the development of economic theory [4]. His theories on monopolies and duopolies are still famous in economics. In 1838 the book Researches on the Mathematical Principles of the Theory of Wealth was published, in which he used the applications of the formulas and symbols of mathematics in economic analysis. This 1Corresponding address: University of Nevada, Reno, Department of Economics, 1664 N. Virginia Street, Reno, NV 89557, USA. Email: [email protected] 2University of Nevada, Reno, Department of Economics, 1664 N. Virginia Street, Reno, NV 89557, USA. book was highly criticized and not very successful during Cournot’s lifetime, and he did try to rewrite it twice, but it still has influence in economics today.