IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/ijecbs/v14y2007i1p37-57.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Product Differentiation, Industry Concentration and Market Share Turbulence

Author

Listed:
  • Catherine Matraves
  • Laura Rondi

Abstract

Building on the current theory of industrial concentration, we analyze the relation between market size and product differentiation, and show how product differentiation impacts market share turbulence. We first propose that in markets where vertical product differentiation dominates, firms will have an incentive to escalate investment in advertising and/or R&D as market size increases. Secondly, such (firm-specific) investments will make competitive advantage more sustainable as the firm is less imitable. This will not be the case if the market is primarily characterized by homogeneous products or horizontal product differentiation. Our predictions are tested using an original EU dataset for 1987 and 1997. Our results strongly support our predictions - the degree of market share turbulence increases with market size. However, this relation is weakened by competitive investment in advertising and R&D.

Suggested Citation

  • Catherine Matraves & Laura Rondi, 2007. "Product Differentiation, Industry Concentration and Market Share Turbulence," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 37-57.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:ijecbs:v:14:y:2007:i:1:p:37-57
    DOI: 10.1080/13571510601097124
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13571510601097124
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/13571510601097124?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 look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ashish Arora & Alfonso Gambardella, 1997. "Domestic Markets And International Competitiveness: Generic And Product‐Specific Competencies In The Engineering Sector," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(S1), pages 53-74, July.
    2. Schmalensee, Richard, 1992. "Sunk Costs and Market Structure: A Review Article," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 125-134, June.
    3. Demsetz, Harold, 1973. "Industry Structure, Market Rivalry, and Public Policy," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(1), pages 1-9, April.
    4. Dixit, Avinash, 1980. "The Role of Investment in Entry-Deterrence," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 90(357), pages 95-106, March.
    5. Dixit, Avinash K & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1977. "Monopolistic Competition and Optimum Product Diversity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 67(3), pages 297-308, June.
    6. Shaked, Avner & Sutton, John, 1987. "Product Differentiation and Industrial Structure," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(2), pages 131-146, December.
    7. Ashish Arora & Alfonso Gambardella, 1996. "Domestic Markets and International Competitiveness," Industrial Organization 9605001, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Marcus Asplund & Volker Nocke, 2003. "Firm Turnover in Imperfectly Competitive Markets," PIER Working Paper Archive 03-010, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    9. Jeffrey R. Campbell & Hugo A. Hopenhayn, 2005. "Market Size Matters," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(1), pages 1-25, March.
    10. Avner Shaked & John Sutton, 1982. "Relaxing Price Competition Through Product Differentiation," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 49(1), pages 3-13.
    11. Mussa, Michael & Rosen, Sherwin, 1978. "Monopoly and product quality," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 301-317, August.
    12. Adriaan Dierx & Fabienne Ilzkovitz & Khalid Sekkat (ed.), 2004. "European Integration and the Functioning of Product Markets," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 3090.
    13. Thomas, Louis A, 1995. "Brand Capital and Incumbent Firms' Positions in Evolving Markets," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 77(3), pages 522-534, August.
    14. Bruce Lyons & Catherine Matraves & Peter Moffatt, 2001. "Industrial Concentration and Market Integration in the European Union," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 68(269), pages 1-26, February.
    15. Roller, Lars-Hendrik & Sinclair-Desgagne, Bernard, 1996. "On the heterogeneity of firms," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(3-5), pages 531-539, April.
    16. Mueller,Dennis C., 2009. "Profits in the Long Run," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521101592, October.
    17. Catherine Matraves, 1999. "Market Structure, R&D and Advertising in the Pharmaceutical Industry," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 169-194, June.
    18. Ingemar Dierickx & Karel Cool, 1989. "Asset Stock Accumulation and Sustainability of Competitive Advantage," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(12), pages 1504-1511, December.
    19. Schmalensee, Richard, 1983. "Advertising and Entry Deterrence: An Exploratory Model," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 91(4), pages 636-653, August.
    20. Schmalensee, Richard, 1989. "Inter-industry studies of structure and performance," Handbook of Industrial Organization, in: R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 16, pages 951-1009, Elsevier.
    21. Caves, Richard E & Porter, Michael E, 1978. "Market Structure, Oligopoly, and Stability of Market Shares," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 289-313, June.
    22. Jaskold Gabszewicz, J. & Thisse, J. -F., 1979. "Price competition, quality and income disparities," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 340-359, June.
    23. David J. Teece & Gary Pisano & Amy Shuen, 1997. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 509-533, August.
    24. Khalid Sekkat & Adriaan Dierx & Fabienne Ilzkovitz, 2004. "European integration and the functioning of product markets," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/7310, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    25. Bresnahan, Timothy F & Reiss, Peter C, 1991. "Entry and Competition in Concentrated Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(5), pages 977-1009, October.
    26. Matraves, Catherine, 1999. "Market Structure, R&D and Advertising in the Pharmaceutical Industry," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 169-194, June.
    27. Davies, Stephen & Rondi, Laura & Sembenelli, Alessandro, 2001. "European Integration and the Changing Structure of EU Manufacturing, 1987-1993," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 10(1), pages 37-75, March.
    28. S.A. Lippman & R.P. Rumelt, 1982. "Uncertain Imitability: An Analysis of Interfirm Differences in Efficiency under Competition," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 13(2), pages 418-438, Autumn.
    29. Davies, Stephen & Lyons, Bruce, 1996. "Industrial Organization in the European Union: Structure, Strategy, and the Competitive Mechanism," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198289739.
    30. Rebecca Henderson & Will Mitchell, 1997. "The Interactions Of Organizational And Competitive Influences On Strategy And Performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(S1), pages 5-14, July.
    31. Ingemar Dierickx & Karel Cool, 1989. "Asset Stock Accumulation and the Sustainability of Competitive Advantage: Reply," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(12), pages 1514-1514, December.
    32. R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), 1989. "Handbook of Industrial Organization," Handbook of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 2, number 2.
    33. Robinson, William T & Chiang, Jeongwen, 1996. "Are Sutton's Predictions Robust?: Empirical Insights into Advertising, R&D, and Concentration," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(4), pages 389-408, December.
    34. R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), 1989. "Handbook of Industrial Organization," Handbook of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    35. Shaked, Avner & Sutton, John, 1983. "Natural Oligopolies," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 51(5), pages 1469-1483, September.
    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. Pekka Ilmakunnas, 2008. "Lower Bounds of Concentration in a Small Open Economy," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 32(1), pages 19-33, February.
    2. Caterina Giannetti, 2015. "Unit roots and the dynamics of market shares: an analysis using an Italian banking micro-panel," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 48(2), pages 537-555, March.
    3. Natalya Yu. Yaroshevich, 2020. "Enterprises’ competitive behaviour assessment in industrial markets in manufacturing," Journal of New Economy, Ural State University of Economics, vol. 21(2), pages 96-111, July.
    4. Clara Graziano & Laura Rondi, 2015. "Market Competition or Family Ties: Which Prevails on Italian CEOs Pay?," CESifo Working Paper Series 5398, CESifo.
    5. Sutrisno, Aziiz & Nomaler, Ӧnder & Alkemade, Floor, 2021. "Has the global expansion of energy markets truly improved energy security?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 148(PA).
    6. Dou, Winston Wei & Ji, Yan & Wu, Wei, 2021. "Competition, profitability, and discount rates," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(2), pages 582-620.

    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. Belleflamme,Paul & Peitz,Martin, 2015. "Industrial Organization," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107687899.
    2. Der-Fang Hung, 2015. "Sustained Competitive Advantage and Organizational Inertia: The Cost Perspective of Knowledge Management," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 6(4), pages 769-789, December.
    3. Pedro L. Marín & Georges Siotis, 2007. "Innovation And Market Structure: An Empirical Evaluation Of The ‘Bounds Approach’ In The Chemical Industry," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), pages 93-111, March.
    4. Stoelhorst, J. W. & van Raaij, Erik M., 2004. "On explaining performance differentials: Marketing and the managerial theory of the firm," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 57(5), pages 462-477, May.
    5. Constantatos, Christos & Perrakis, Stylianos, 1995. "Différenciation verticale et structure du marché," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 71(1), pages 71-98, mars.
    6. Catherine Matraves, 2002. "European Integration and Market Structure in the Soft Drinks Industry," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(3), pages 295-310.
    7. Silvana Robone & Alberto Zanardi, 2006. "Market structure and technology: evidence from the Italian National Health Service," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 6(3), pages 215-236, September.
    8. Kirsten Foss & Nicolai J. Foss, 2004. "The Next Step in the Evolution of the RBV: Integration with Transaction Cost Economics," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 15(1), pages 107-121.
    9. Hackl, Franz & Kummer, Michael E. & Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf & Zulehner, Christine, 2014. "Market structure and market performance in E-commerce," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 199-218.
    10. Stole, Lars A., 2007. "Price Discrimination and Competition," Handbook of Industrial Organization, in: Mark Armstrong & Robert Porter (ed.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 34, pages 2221-2299, Elsevier.
    11. Jan Guldager JØrgensen & Philipp J.H. Schr–der, 2003. "Reductions in Real versus Tariff Barriers: The Impact on Industry Concentration," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 3(4), pages 251-268, December.
    12. Manez, J.A. & Waterson, M., 2001. "Multiproduct Firms and Product Differentiation: a Survey," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 594, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    13. Auer, Raphael A. & Sauré, Philip, 2017. "Dynamic entry in vertically differentiated markets," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 177-205.
    14. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:12:y:2008:i:15:p:1-10 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Etro, Federico, 2016. "Research in economics and industrial organization," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(4), pages 511-517.
    16. 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.
    17. Catherine Matraves, 1999. "Market Integration and Market Structure in the European Soft Drinks Industry: Always Coca-Cola?," CIG Working Papers FS IV 99-13, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB), Research Unit: Competition and Innovation (CIG).
    18. Mark J Roberts & Dylan Supina, 1997. "Output Price And Markup Dispersion In Micro Data: The Roles Of Producer And Heterogeneity And Noise," Working Papers 97-10, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    19. Anne Marie Knott & David J. Bryce & Hart E. Posen, 2003. "On the Strategic Accumulation of Intangible Assets," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(2), pages 192-207, April.
    20. Ollinger, Michael & Fernandez-Cornejo, Jorge, 1998. "Sunk costs and regulation in the U.S. pesticide industry," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 139-168, March.
    21. Tammy L. Madsen & Michael J. Leiblein, 2015. "What Factors Affect the Persistence of an Innovation Advantage?," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(8), pages 1097-1127, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Product Differentiation; Market Size; Turbulence;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets

    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:taf:ijecbs:v:14:y:2007:i:1:p:37-57. 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CIJB20 .

    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.