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Mergers and Business Model Assimilation: Evidence from Low-Cost Airlines Takeovers

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This paper examines mergers that lead to an almost immediate replacement of the target firm’s business model in favor of that of the acquiring firm. We examine the post-merger behavior of the two leading European dedicated low-cost airlines, EasyJet and Ryanair, each acquiring another low-cost airline, respectively Go Fly and Buzz. We find that both takeovers had an immediate and sustained impact on both the pricing structures and the extent of inter-temporal price schedules used on the acquired routes, with early booking fares noticeably reduced and only very late booking fares increased. The analysis suggests that the takeovers had a net beneficial effect as a consequence of the introduction of the acquiring firms’ business models and associated yield management pricing systems. .

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  • Paul W. Dobson & Claudio A. Piga, 2009. "Mergers and Business Model Assimilation: Evidence from Low-Cost Airlines Takeovers," Discussion Paper Series 2009_2, Department of Economics, Loughborough University, revised Feb 2009.
  • Handle: RePEc:lbo:lbowps:2009_2
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    File URL: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/sbe/RePEc/lbo/lbowps/dobson_piga_mergers_LCA.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Stephen W. Davies & Peter L. Ormosi, 2012. "A Comparative Assessment Of Methodologies Used To Evaluate Competition Policy," Journal of Competition Law and Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 8(4), pages 769-803.
    2. Steven, Adams B. & Yazdi, Amirhossein Alamdar & Dresner, Martin, 2016. "Mergers and service quality in the airline industry: A silver lining for air travelers?," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 1-13.
    3. Bachis, Enrico & Piga, Claudio A., 2011. "Low-cost airlines and online price dispersion," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 655-667.
    4. Budzinski, Oliver, 2012. "Impact evaluation of merger control decisions," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 75, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    5. Oliver Budzinski, 2011. "Impact Evaluation of Merger Decisions," Working Papers 112/11, University of Southern Denmark, Department of Sociology, Environmental and Business Economics.
    6. Lenartowicz, M. & Mason, K. & Foster, A., 2013. "Mergers and acquisitions in the EU low cost carrier market. A Product and Organisation Architecture (POA) approach to identify potential merger partners," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 3-11.
    7. Budzinski, Oliver, 2012. "Empirische Ex-Post Evaluation von wettbewerbspolitischen Entscheidungen: Methodische Anmerkungen," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 69, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    8. Ma, Wenliang & Wang, Qiang & Yang, Hangjun & Zhang, Yahua, 2020. "Evaluating the price effects of two airline mergers in China," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    merger policy; Business model; Low-cost airline; Price discrimination; Yield management .;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L93 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Air Transportation

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