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Exclusionary pricing in two-sided markets

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  • Amelio, Andrea
  • Giardino-Karlinger, Liliane
  • Valletti, Tommaso

Abstract

This paper studies the incentives to engage in exclusionary pricing in the context of two-sided markets. Platforms are horizontally differentiated, and seek to attract users of two groups who single-home and enjoy indirect network externalities from the size of the opposite user group active on the same platform. The entrant incurs a fixed cost of entry, and the incumbent can commit to its prices before the entry decision is taken. The incumbent has thus the option to either accommodate entry, or to exclude entry and enjoy monopolistic profits, albeit under the constraint that its price must be low enough to not leave any room for an entrant to cover its fixed cost of entry. We find that, in the spirit of the literature on limit pricing, under certain circumstances even platforms find it profitable to exclude entrants if the fixed entry cost lies above a certain threshold. By studying the properties of the threshold, we show that the stronger the network externality, the lower the thresholds for which incumbent platforms find it profitable to exclude. We also find that entry deterrence is more likely to harm consumers the weaker are network externalities, and the more differentiated are the two platforms.

Suggested Citation

  • Amelio, Andrea & Giardino-Karlinger, Liliane & Valletti, Tommaso, 2020. "Exclusionary pricing in two-sided markets," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:indorg:v:73:y:2020:i:c:s016771872030014x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijindorg.2020.102592
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    3. Bruno Jullien & Alessandro Pavan & Marc Rysman, 2021. "Two-sided markets, pricing, and network effects," Post-Print hal-03828345, HAL.
    4. Justus Haucap, 2019. "Competition and Competition Policy in a Data-Driven Economy," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 54(4), pages 201-208, July.
    5. Zhou, Yongyi & Zhang, Yulin & Goh, Mark, 2023. "Platform responses to entry in a local market with mobile providers," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 309(1), pages 236-251.
    6. Eduardo Pontual Ribeiro & Svetlana Golovanova, 2020. "A Unified Presentation Of Competition Analysis In Two‐Sided Markets," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(3), pages 548-571, July.
    7. Fuyuki Saruta, 2022. "Exclusive Contracts and Multihoming Agents in Two-sided Markets," Discussion Paper Series DP2022-26, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University.
    8. Michael L. Katz, 2019. "Platform economics and antitrust enforcement: A little knowledge is a dangerous thing," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 138-152, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Two-sided markets; Platforms; Externalities; Exclusionary practices; Limit pricing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D40 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - General
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L41 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Monopolization; Horizontal Anticompetitive Practices

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