Adrian Majumdar () (Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia and RBB Economics)
Abstract
This paper demonstrates how a profitable, downstream merger can lower the merged entity's input price while raising that of its rivals, leading to an adverse effect on final consumers. This novel 'waterbed' result is surprising and very different to the unilateral and co-ordinated effects usually considered in the analysis of horizontal mergers. When demand is linear, all mergers involving a powerful buyer harm overall welfare even though the merger leads to marginal cost reductions that substantially increase output by the merged entity.
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Centre for Competition Policy, University of East Anglia in its series Working Papers with number
05-7.
Find related papers by JEL classification: L40 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - General D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure and Pricing - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection