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Spatial clustering and market power: Evidence from the retail gasoline market

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  • Pennerstorfer, Dieter
  • Weiss, Christoph

Abstract

We investigate the impact of local market power and ‘spatial clustering’ on prices in the retail gasoline market. The acquisition of Aral stations from BP in the Austrian gasoline market in 2003 provides a ‘quasi-experiment’ for identification of the causal effects of changes in spatial clustering on retail prices for a panel of gasoline stations. Our econometric analysis suggests that spatial clustering of gasoline stations reduces the degree of competition between firms and increases equilibrium prices. Merger simulations show that ignoring merger-induced changes in spatial characteristics will lead to a significant bias in the evaluation of merger effects.

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  • Pennerstorfer, Dieter & Weiss, Christoph, 2013. "Spatial clustering and market power: Evidence from the retail gasoline market," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 661-675.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:regeco:v:43:y:2013:i:4:p:661-675
    DOI: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2013.04.002
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    10. Firgo, Matthias & Pennerstorfer, Dieter & Weiss, Christoph R., 2015. "Centrality and pricing in spatially differentiated markets: The case of gasoline," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 81-90.
    11. Sylvain Benoît & Yannick Lucotte & Sébastien Ringuedé, 2019. "Competition and price stickiness: Evidence from the French retail gasoline market," Working Papers hal-02292332, HAL.
    12. Michal Kvasnička, 2022. "Can we ignore spatial dependence when evaluating mergers?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 62(3), pages 1323-1344, March.
    13. Dieter Pennerstorfer & Franz Sinabell, 2013. "Spatial Price Differentiation and Regional Market Power. The Case of Food-Retailing in Austria," WIFO Working Papers 458, WIFO.
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    16. Erdős, Katalin & Baczur, Roland & Kehl, Dániel & Farkas, Richárd, 2022. "When post-merger price effect becomes smoothed over time: A case of a gasoline market merger," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    17. Michal Kvasnička & Rostislav Staněk & Ondřej Krčál, 2018. "Is the Retail Gasoline Market Local or National?," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 47-58, March.
    18. Nikolic, Adriana & Weiss, Christoph, 2014. "Spatial interactions in location decisions: Empirical evidence from a Bayesian spatial probit model," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 177, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
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