IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/indorg/v85y2022ics0167718722000480.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Regulating recommended retail prices

Author

Listed:
  • Janssen, Maarten
  • Reshidi, Edona

Abstract

This paper analyses the effects of regulated recommended retail prices (RRPs). Such recommendations by manufacturers are non-binding in nature and thus retailers do not have to adhere to them. We look at regulations, similar to that by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), requiring at least some sales to take place at RRPs. Such regulations were introduced with the aim of protecting consumers. In the absence of regulation an equilibrium exists where the manufacturer charges the same wholesale prices across retailers. We show that regulating RRPs enables manufacturers to commit to their unobserved contracts, creating an equilibrium with wholesale price discrimination. We find that such an equilibrium increases manufacturer’s profits, but harms retailers and consumers.

Suggested Citation

  • Janssen, Maarten & Reshidi, Edona, 2022. "Regulating recommended retail prices," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:indorg:v:85:y:2022:i:c:s0167718722000480
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijindorg.2022.102872
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167718722000480
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ijindorg.2022.102872?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. De los Santos, Babur & Kim, In Kyung & Lubensky, Dmitry, 2018. "Do MSRPs decrease prices?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 429-457.
      • Babur De los Santos & In Kyung Kim & Dmitry Lubensky, 2013. "Do MSRPs Decrease Prices?," Working Papers 2013-13, Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, Department of Business Economics and Public Policy.
    2. John Asker & Heski Bar-Isaac, 2020. "Vertical Information Restraints: Pro- and Anticompetitive Impacts of Minimum-Advertised-Price Restrictions," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 63(1), pages 111-148.
    3. Fabra, Natalia & Reguant, Mar, 2020. "A model of search with price discrimination," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    4. Maarten Janssen & Sandro Shelegia, 2020. "Beliefs and Consumer Search in a Vertical Industry [Can Small Deviations from Rationality Make Significant Differences to Economic Equilibria?]," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 18(5), pages 2359-2393.
    5. Stahl, Dale O., 1996. "Oligopolistic pricing with heterogeneous consumer search," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 243-268.
    6. Garcia, Daniel & Janssen, Maarten, 2018. "Retail channel management in consumer search markets," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 162-182.
    7. Dmitry Lubensky, 2017. "A model of recommended retail prices," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 48(2), pages 358-386, May.
    8. Oliver Hart & Jean Tirole, 1990. "Vertical Integration and Market Foreclosure," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 21(1990 Micr), pages 205-286.
    9. Willem Boshoff & Stefan Frübing & Kai Hüschelrath, 2018. "Information exchange through non-binding advance price announcements: an antitrust analysis," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 439-468, June.
    10. Lowell R. Jacobsen & Roger D. Blair & Francine Lafontaine, 2015. "Formula Pricing and Profit Sharing in Inter‐Firm Contracts," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(1), pages 33-43, January.
    11. Stefan Buehler & Dennis L. Gärtner, 2013. "Making Sense of Nonbinding Retail-Price Recommendations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(1), pages 335-359, February.
    12. Maarten Janssen & Sandro Shelegia, 2015. "Consumer Search and Double Marginalization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(6), pages 1683-1710, June.
    13. Janssen, Maarten C.W., 2020. "Vertical contracts in search markets," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    14. Daniel Garcia & Jun Honda & Maarten Janssen, 2017. "The Double Diamond Paradox," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 63-99, August.
    15. Joseph E. Harrington & Lixin Ye, 2019. "Collusion through Coordination of Announcements," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(2), pages 209-241, June.
    16. Riemer P. Faber & Maarten C. W. Janssen, 2019. "On the Effects of Suggested Prices in Gasoline Markets," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 121(2), pages 676-705, April.
    17. Daniel P. O'Brien & Greg Shaffer, 1992. "Vertical Control with Bilateral Contracts," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 23(3), pages 299-308, Autumn.
    18. Steven Salop, 1977. "The Noisy Monopolist: Imperfect Information, Price Dispersion and Price Discrimination," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 44(3), pages 393-406.
    19. Kaufmann, Patrick J & Lafontaine, Francine, 1994. "Costs of Control: The," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 37(2), pages 417-453, October.
    20. McAfee, R Preston & Schwartz, Marius, 1994. "Opportunism in Multilateral Vertical Contracting: Nondiscrimination, Exclusivity, and Uniformity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(1), pages 210-230, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hunold, Matthias & Werner, Tobias, 2023. "Algorithmic price recommendations and collusion: Experimental evidence," DICE Discussion Papers 410, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).

    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. Janssen, Maarten C.W., 2020. "Vertical contracts in search markets," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    2. Janssen, Maarten & Reshidi, Edona, 2018. "Retail Discrimination in Search Markets," CEPR Discussion Papers 12945, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Maarten Janssen & Edona Reshidi, 2023. "Discriminatory Trade Promotions in Consumer Search Markets," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(2), pages 401-422, March.
    4. Haan, Marco A. & Heijnen, Pim & Obradovits, Martin, 2023. "Competition with list prices," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 502-528.
    5. Garcia, Daniel & Janssen, Maarten, 2018. "Retail channel management in consumer search markets," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 162-182.
    6. Garrod, Luke & Olczak, Matthew & Wilson, Chris M., 2020. "Price advertising, double marginalisation and vertical restraints," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    7. Michele Bisceglia, 2023. "Vertical Contract Disclosure in Three‐Tier Industries," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(1), pages 1-46, March.
    8. Edona Reshidi, 2022. "Vertical Bargaining and Obfuscation," Staff Working Papers 22-13, Bank of Canada.
    9. Emmanuel Petrakis & Panagiotis Skartados, 2022. "Vertical Opportunism, Bargaining, and Share-Based Agreements," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 60(4), pages 549-565, June.
    10. Corts, Kenneth S. & Neher, Darwin V., 2003. "Credible delegation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 395-407, June.
    11. De los Santos, Babur & Kim, In Kyung & Lubensky, Dmitry, 2018. "Do MSRPs decrease prices?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 429-457.
      • Babur De los Santos & In Kyung Kim & Dmitry Lubensky, 2013. "Do MSRPs Decrease Prices?," Working Papers 2013-13, Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, Department of Business Economics and Public Policy.
    12. Jihui Chen & Qiang Fu, 2017. "Do exclusivity arrangements harm consumers?," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 51(3), pages 311-339, June.
    13. Do, Jihwan & Miklós-Thal, Jeanine, 2023. "Partial secrecy in vertical contracting," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    14. Joel Sandonís & Javier M. López-Cuñat, 2018. "Upstream Incentives To Encourage Downstream Competition In A Vertically Separated Industry," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 63(03), pages 619-627, June.
    15. Fumagalli, Chiara & Motta, Massimo, 2001. "Upstream mergers, downstream mergers, and secret vertical contracts," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 275-289, September.
    16. Bjørn Olav Johansen & Tore Nilssen, 2016. "The Economics of Retailing Formats: Competition Versus Bargaining," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(1), pages 109-134, March.
    17. Xi Li & Krista J. Li & Yan Xiong, 2023. "Channel Coordination of Storable Goods," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(3), pages 538-550, May.
    18. Martin Peitz & Dongsoo Shin, 2020. "Distorted Input Ratios in Vertical Relationships," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 122(4), pages 1480-1509, October.
    19. Pagnozzi, Marco & Piccolo, Salvatore & Reisinger, Markus, 2021. "Vertical contracting with endogenous market structure," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    20. Johannes Boehm & Jan Sonntag, 2023. "Vertical Integration and Foreclosure: Evidence from Production Network Data," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(1), pages 141-161, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Vertical relations; Consumer search;

    JEL classification:

    • D40 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - General
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness

    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:eee:indorg:v:85:y:2022:i:c:s0167718722000480. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505551 .

    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.