IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jindec/v54y2006i4p451-470.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Biases In Static Oligopoly Models? Evidence From The California Electricity Market

Author

Listed:
  • DAE‐WOOK KIM
  • CHRISTOPHER R. KNITTEL

Abstract

Estimating market power is often complicated by a lack of reliable marginal cost data. A number of empirical studies identify industry competition and marginal cost levels by estimating the firms' first order condition within a conjectural variations framework. Few studies, however, have analyzed the accuracy of this technique. In this paper, we use direct measures of marginal cost for the California electricity market to measure the extent to which estimated mark‐ups and marginal costs are biased. Our results suggest that the technique poorly estimates mark‐ups and the sensitivity of marginal cost to cost shifters.

Suggested Citation

  • Dae‐Wook Kim & Christopher R. Knittel, 2006. "Biases In Static Oligopoly Models? Evidence From The California Electricity Market," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 451-470, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:jindec:v:54:y:2006:i:4:p:451-470
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6451.2006.00296.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6451.2006.00296.x
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-6451.2006.00296.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brander, James A. & Zhang, Anming, 1993. "Dynamic oligopoly behaviour in the airline industry," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 407-435, September.
    2. Lindh, Thomas, 1992. "The inconsistency of consistent conjectures : Coming back to Cournot," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 69-90, June.
    3. Diewert, Walter E & Wales, Terence J, 1987. "Flexible Functional Forms and Global Curvature Conditions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 55(1), pages 43-68, January.
    4. H. D. Vinod & Aman Ullah & Krishna Kadiyala, 1978. "Evaluation of the Mean Squared Error of Certain Generalized Ridge Estimators," University of Western Ontario, Departmental Research Report Series 7832, University of Western Ontario, Department of Economics.
    5. Rotemberg, Julio J & Saloner, Garth, 1986. "A Supergame-Theoretic Model of Price Wars during Booms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(3), pages 390-407, June.
    6. Paul L. Joskow & Edward Kohn, 2002. "A Quantitative Analysis of Pricing Behavior in California's Wholesale Electricity Market During Summer 2000," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 1-35.
    7. Robert H. Porter, 1983. "A Study of Cartel Stability: The Joint Executive Committee, 1880-1886," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 14(2), pages 301-314, Autumn.
    8. Glenn Ellison, 1994. "Theories of Cartel Stability and the Joint Executive Committee," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 25(1), pages 37-57, Spring.
    9. Gollop, Frank M. & Roberts, Mark J., 1979. "Firm interdependence in oligopolistic markets," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 313-331, August.
    10. Charles D. Kolstad & Michelle H. L. Turnovsky, 1998. "Cost Functions And Nonlinear Prices: Estimating A Technology With Quality-Differentiated Inputs," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(3), pages 444-453, August.
    11. Bresnahan, Timothy F., 1989. "Empirical studies of industries with market power," Handbook of Industrial Organization, in: R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 17, pages 1011-1057, Elsevier.
    12. Kadiyali, Vrinda & Vilcassim, Naufel & Chintagunta, Pradeep, 1998. "Product line extensions and competitive market interactions: An empirical analysis," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1-2), pages 339-363, November.
    13. Karen Clay & Werner Troesken, 2003. "Further Tests of Static Oligopoly Models: Whiskey, 1882–1898," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 151-166, June.
    14. James A. Brander & Anming Zhang, 1990. "Market Conduct in the Airline Industry: An Empirical Investigation," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 21(4), pages 567-583, Winter.
    15. Corts, Kenneth S., 1998. "Conduct parameters and the measurement of market power," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 227-250, November.
    16. Appelbaum, Elie, 1982. "The estimation of the degree of oligopoly power," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2-3), pages 287-299, August.
    17. R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), 1989. "Handbook of Industrial Organization," Handbook of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    18. Kadiyali, Vrinda, 1997. "Exchange rate pass-through for strategic pricing and advertising: An empirical analysis of the U.S. photographic film industry," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(3-4), pages 437-461, November.
    19. Severin Borenstein & James Bushnell & Christopher R. Knittel, 1999. "Market Power in Electricity Markets: Beyond Concentration Measures," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Number 4), pages 65-88.
    20. Catherine D. Wolfram, 1999. "Measuring Duopoly Power in the British Electricity Spot Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(4), pages 805-826, September.
    21. Andrews, Donald W K, 1993. "Tests for Parameter Instability and Structural Change with Unknown Change Point," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 61(4), pages 821-856, July.
    22. Kellie Curry Raper & H. Alan Love & C. Richard Shumway, 2000. "Determining market power exertion between buyers and sellers," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(3), pages 225-252.
    23. Philip M. Parker & Lars-Hendrik Roller, 1997. "Collusive Conduct in Duopolies: Multimarket Contact and Cross-Ownership in the Mobile Telephone Industry," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 28(2), pages 304-322, Summer.
    24. Lau, Lawrence J., 1982. "On identifying the degree of competitiveness from industry price and output data," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 10(1-2), pages 93-99.
    25. Berg, Sigbjorn Atle & Kim, Moshe, 1994. "Oligopolistic Interdependence and the Structure of Production in Banking: An Empirical Evaluation," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 26(2), pages 309-322, May.
    26. Severin Borenstein & James B. Bushnell & Frank A. Wolak, 2002. "Measuring Market Inefficiencies in California's Restructured Wholesale Electricity Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(5), pages 1376-1405, December.
    27. Roberts, Mark J., 1984. "Testing oligopolistic behavior," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 2(4), pages 367-383, December.
    28. Gelfand, Matthew D. & Spiller, Pablo T., 1987. "Entry barriers and multiproduct oligopolies: Do they forebear or spoil?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 101-113, March.
    29. Severin Borenstein & James Bushnell & Christopher R. Knittel & Catherine Wolfram, 2001. "Trading Inefficiencies in California's Electricity Markets," NBER Working Papers 8620, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    30. R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), 1989. "Handbook of Industrial Organization," Handbook of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 2, number 2.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dae-Wook Kim & Christopher R. Knittel, 2004. "Biases in Static Oligopoly Models? Evidence from the California Electricity Market," NBER Working Papers 10895, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Corts, Kenneth S., 1998. "Conduct parameters and the measurement of market power," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 227-250, November.
    3. Luis Orea & Jevgenijs Steinbuks, 2018. "Estimating Market Power In Homogenous Product Markets Using A Composed Error Model: Application To The California Electricity Market," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 56(2), pages 1296-1321, April.
    4. Alberto Salvo, 2004. "Inferring Conduct under the Threat of Entry: The Case of the Brazilian Cement Industry," STICERD - Economics of Industry Papers 38, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE.
    5. Perloff, Jeffrey M, 1991. "Econometric analysis of imperfect competition and implications for trade research," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt46w1j22d, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    6. Paolo Angelini & Nicola Cetorelli, 1999. "Bank competition and regulatory reform: the case of the Italian banking industry," Working Paper Series WP-99-32, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    7. Holloway, Garth J., 1995. "Conjectural Variations With Fewer Apologies," Working Papers 225880, University of California, Davis, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    8. Hideki Murakami, 2012. "Dynamic Effect of Low-Cost Entry on the Conduct Parameter: An Early-Stage Analysis of Southwest Airlines and America West Airlines," Discussion Papers 2012-25, Kobe University, Graduate School of Business Administration.
    9. Rodrigo Zeidan & Marcelo Resende, 2009. "Measuring Market Conduct in the Brazilian Cement Industry: A Dynamic Econometric Investigation," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 34(3), pages 231-244, May.
    10. Ciro Eduardo Bazán Navarro, 2004. "Análisis de la competencia en un mercado mayorista de electricidad: el caso de España," Documentos de trabajo conjunto ULL-ULPGC 2004-04, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas de la ULPGC.
    11. Holloway, Garth J. & Hertel, Thomas W., 1991. "Comparing Hypotheses About Competition," Working Papers 225867, University of California, Davis, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    12. Reiss, Peter C. & Wolak, Frank A., 2003. "Structural Econometric Modeling: Rationales and Examples from Industrial Organization," Research Papers 1831, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    13. Richard Schmalensee, 2012. "“On a Level with Dentists?” Reflections on the Evolution of Industrial Organization," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 41(3), pages 157-179, November.
    14. Perekhozhuk, Oleksandr, 2007. "Marktstruktur und Preisbildung auf dem ukrainischen Markt für Rohmilch," Studies on the Agricultural and Food Sector in Transition Economies, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), volume 41, number 92322.
    15. Wann, Joyce J. & Sexton, Richard J., 1991. "Imperfect Competition In Multiproduct Food Industries With Application To Pear Processing," 1991 Annual Meeting, August 4-7, Manhattan, Kansas 271370, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    16. Goo, Moon Mo, 1997. "The measurement of market power: short-run, long-run, and dynamic adjustment models," ISU General Staff Papers 1997010108000012985, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    17. Bhattacharyya, Aditi & Kutlu, Levent & Sickles, Robin C., 2018. "Pricing Inputs and Outputs: Market prices versus shadow prices, market power, and welfare analysis," Working Papers 18-009, Rice University, Department of Economics.
    18. Delis, Manthos D., 2010. "Competitive conditions in the Central and Eastern European banking systems," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 268-274, October.
    19. David Genesove & Wallace P. Mullin, 1995. "Validating the Conjectural Variation Method: The Sugar Industry, 1890- 1914," NBER Working Papers 5314, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Devin Garcia & Levent Kutlu & Robin C. Sickles, 2022. "Market Structures in Production Economics," Springer Books, in: Subhash C. Ray & Robert G. Chambers & Subal C. Kumbhakar (ed.), Handbook of Production Economics, chapter 13, pages 537-574, Springer.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • L1 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance
    • L9 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities
    • C5 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric Modeling

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jindec:v:54:y:2006:i:4:p:451-470. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0022-1821 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.