IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ormksc/v12y1993i2p144-166.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Look on the Cost Side: Market Share and the Competitive Environment

Author

Listed:
  • William Boulding

    (Duke University)

  • Richard Staelin

    (Duke University)

Abstract

In this paper we develop a model relating market share to average costs. We start with a theoretical model of the factors that affect the firm's average cost curve, partitioning these factors into (a) measurable firm and competitive environment characteristics, and (b) unobserved factors that are either fixed, random, or follow a first-order autoregressive process. We then link this theoretical model to an empirical model in which we specify three average cost equations for the organizational areas of purchasing, production, and marketing. Main effects for initial (lagged) market share position, as well as their interactions with factors characterizing the firm's competitive environment, represent the variables of key theoretical interest in our equations. We estimate these equations using PIMS data, and control for fixed, contemporaneous, and autoregressive unobservable factors. Our results suggest that market share can often lead to market power in the form of lower average costs. However, the firm's operating environment greatly moderates the effect of market share on average cost. In particular, we find that market share position only leads to lower average costs when the organizational unit operates in a competitive environment that gives it motivation and ability to realize power from its market share position.

Suggested Citation

  • William Boulding & Richard Staelin, 1993. "A Look on the Cost Side: Market Share and the Competitive Environment," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(2), pages 144-166.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormksc:v:12:y:1993:i:2:p:144-166
    DOI: 10.1287/mksc.12.2.144
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mksc.12.2.144
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/mksc.12.2.144?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
    ---><---

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. K. Sudhir, 2001. "Competitive Pricing Behavior in the Auto Market: A Structural Analysis," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(1), pages 42-60, January.
    2. Bykadorov, Igor & Ellero, Andrea & Moretti, Elena & Vianello, Silvia, 2009. "The role of retailer's performance in optimal wholesale price discount policies," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 194(2), pages 538-550, April.
    3. Mitsukuni Nishida, 2018. "A Structural Analysis of Entry Order, Performance, and Geography: The Case of the Convenience-Store Industry in Japan," KIER Working Papers 993, Kyoto University, Institute of Economic Research.
    4. Paul-Valentin Ngobo & Eric Stéphany, 2001. "Les différences de performance financière entre les entreprises: résultats du marché français," Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, revues.org, vol. 4(1), pages 89-121, March.
    5. Jan-Benedict E. M. Steenkamp & Eric (Er) Fang, 2011. "The Impact of Economic Contractions on the Effectiveness of R&D and Advertising: Evidence from U.S. Companies Spanning Three Decades," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(4), pages 628-645, July.
    6. William Boulding & Markus Christen, 2008. "Disentangling Pioneering Cost Advantages and Disadvantages," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(4), pages 699-716, 07-08.
    7. Buzzell, Robert D., 2004. "The PIMS program of strategy research: A retrospective appraisal," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 57(5), pages 478-483, May.
    8. William Boulding & Markus Christen, 2003. "Sustainable Pioneering Advantage? Profit Implications of Market Entry Order," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(3), pages 371-392.
    9. Annacker, Dirk & Hildebrandt, Lutz, 2002. "Unobservable effects in structural models of business performance," SFB 373 Discussion Papers 2002,22, Humboldt University of Berlin, Interdisciplinary Research Project 373: Quantification and Simulation of Economic Processes.
    10. Mitsukuni Nishida, 2017. "First-Mover Advantage Through Distribution: A Decomposition Approach," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 36(4), pages 590-609, July.
    11. Naufel J. Vilcassim & Vrinda Kadiyali & Pradeep K. Chintagunta, 1999. "Investigating Dynamic Multifirm Market Interactions in Price and Advertising," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 45(4), pages 499-518, April.
    12. Annacker, Dirk & Hildebrandt, Lutz, 2004. "Unobservable effects in structural models of business performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 57(5), pages 507-517, May.

    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:inm:ormksc:v:12:y:1993:i:2:p:144-166. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    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.