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On Mergers in Consumer Search Markets

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Author Info
Maarten C.W. Janssen () (Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam)
José Luis Moraga-González () (University of Groningen, and CESifo)

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Abstract

We study mergers in a market where N firms sell a homogeneous good and consumers search sequentially to discover prices. The main motivation for such an analysis is that mergers generally affect market prices and thereby, in a search environment, the search behavior of consumers. Endogenous changes in consumer search may strengthen, or alternatively, offset the primary effects of a merger. Our main result is that the level of search costs are crucial in determining the incentives of firms to merge and the welfare implications of mergers. When search costs are relatively small, mergers turn out not to be profitable for the merging firms. If search costs are relatively high instead, a merger causes a fall in average price and this triggers search. As a result, non-shoppers who didn’t find it worthwhile to search in the pre-merger situation, start searching post-merger. We show that this change in the search composition of demand makes mergers incentive-compatible for the firms and, in some cases, socially desirable.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Tinbergen Institute in its series Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers with number 07-054/1.

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Date of creation: 16 Jul 2007
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Handle: RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20070054

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Web page: http://www.tinbergen.nl/

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Related research
Keywords: consnmer search mergers price dispersion

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D40 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure and Pricing - - - General
D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search, Learning, and Information
L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets

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  1. Simon P. Anderson & Regis Renault, 1999. "Pricing, product diversity, and search costs: a Bertrand-Chamberlin-Diamond model," Virginia Economics Online Papers 335, University of Virginia, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. McAfee R. Preston, 1995. "Multiproduct Equilibrium Price Dispersion," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 83-105, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Pratt, John W & Wise, David A & Zeckhauser, Richard, 1979. "Price Differences in Almost Competitive Markets," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 93(2), pages 189-211, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Perry, Martin K & Porter, Robert H, 1985. "Oligopoly and the Incentive for Horizontal Merger," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(1), pages 219-27, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Burdett, Kenneth & Judd, Kenneth L, 1983. "Equilibrium Price Dispersion," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 51(4), pages 955-69, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Ali Hortaç Su & Chad Syverson, 2004. "Product Differentiation, Search Costs, And Competition in the Mutual Fund Industry: A Case Study of S&P 500 Index Funds," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 119(2), pages 403-456, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Stahl, Dale O, II, 1989. "Oligopolistic Pricing with Sequential Consumer Search," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(4), pages 700-712, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. George J. Stigler, 1961. "The Economics of Information," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 69, pages 213. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Janssen, Maarten C.W. & Moraga-Gonzalez, Jose Luis & Wildenbeest, Matthijs R., 2005. "Truly costly sequential search and oligopolistic pricing," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 23(5-6), pages 451-466, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Baye, Michael R. & Kovenock, Dan & de Vries, Casper G., 1992. "It takes two to tango: Equilibria in a model of sales," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 4(4), pages 493-510, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Saul Lach, 2002. "Existence and Persistence of Price Dispersion: an Empirical Analysis," NBER Working Papers 8737, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  12. IVALDI, Marc & JULLIEN, Bruno & REY, Patrick & SEABRIGHT, Paul & TIROLE, Jean, 2003. "The Economics of Unilateral Effects," IDEI Working Papers 222, Institut d'Économie Industrielle (IDEI), Toulouse. [Downloadable!]
  13. José Luis Moraga-González & Matthijs R. Wildenbeest, 2006. "Maximum Likelihood Estimation of Search Costs," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 06-019/1, Tinbergen Institute. [Downloadable!]
  14. Raymond Deneckere & Carl Davidson, 1985. "Incentives to Form Coalitions with Bertrand Competition," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 16(4), pages 473-486, Winter. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Maarten C. W. Janssen & José Luis Moraga-González, 2004. "Strategic Pricing, Consumer Search and the Number of Firms," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 71(4), pages 1089-1118, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Reinganum, Jennifer F, 1979. "A Simple Model of Equilibrium Price Dispersion," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(4), pages 851-58, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  17. Han Hong & Matthew Shum, 2006. "Using Price Distributions to Estimate Search Costs," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 37(2), pages 257-275, Summer.
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