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Skewed Pricing in Two-Sided Markets: An IO approach

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Author Info
Wilko Bolt
Alexander F. Tieman

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Abstract

In two-sided markets, one widely observes skewed pricing strategies, in which the price mark-up is much higher on one side of the market than the other. Using a simple model of two-sided markets, we show that, under constant elasticity of demand, skewed pricing is indeed pro?t maximizing. The most elastic side of the market is used to generate maximum demand by providing it with platform services at the lowest possible price. Through the positive network externality, full participation of the high-elasticity, lowprice side of the market increases market participation of the other side. As this side is less price elastic, the platform is able to extract high prices. Our skewed pricing result also carries over when analyzing the socially optimal prices. Interestingly, this leads to below-marginal cost pricing in the social optimum. We motivate the analysis by looking at the Dutch debit card system.

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Paper provided by Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department in its series DNB Working Papers with number 013.

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Date of creation: Oct 2004
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Handle: RePEc:dnb:dnbwpp:013

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Related research
Keywords: Two-sided markets skewed pricing corner solution social optimum.

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Mortgages
L10 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - General
L41 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Monopolization; Horizontal Anticompetitive Practices

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Joshua Gans & Stephen King, 2003. "The Neutrality of Interchange Fees in Payment Systems," Topics in Economic Analysis & Policy, Berkeley Electronic Press, vol. 3(1), pages 1069-1069. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. ROCHET, Jean-Charles & TIROLE, Jean, 2003. "Platform Competition in Two-Sided Markets," IDEI Working Papers 152, Institut d'Économie Industrielle (IDEI), Toulouse. [Downloadable!]
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  3. Caillaud, Bernard & Jullien, Bruno, 2003. " Chicken & Egg: Competition among Intermediation Service Providers," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 34(2), pages 309-28, Summer.
  4. Schmalensee, Richard, 2002. "Payment Systems and Interchange Fees," Journal of Industrial Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 50(2), pages 103-22, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. W. Bolt, 2003. "Retail Payments in the Netherlands: some Facts and Some Theory," WO Research Memoranda (discontinued) 722, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
  6. Jean-Charles Rochet & Jean Tirole, 2002. "Cooperation Among Competitors: Some Economics Of Payment Card Associations," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 33(4), pages 549-570, Winter.
  7. Julian Wright, 2004. "One-sided Logic in Two-sided Markets," Review of Network Economics, Concept Economics, vol. 3(1), pages 42-63, March. [Downloadable!]
  8. Wright, Julian, 2003. "Optimal card payment systems," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 587-612, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Mark Armstrong, 2005. "Competition in Two-Sided Markets," Industrial Organization 0505009, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Wilko Bolt & David Humphrey & Roland Uittenbogaard, 2005. "The effect of transaction pricing on the adoption of electronic payments: a cross-country comparison," Working Papers 05-28, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. [Downloadable!]
  2. Evans, David & Schmalensee, Richard, 2005. "The Economics of Interchange Fees and Their Regulation: An Overview," Working papers 18181, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management. [Downloadable!]
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  3. Jo Reynaerts & Patrick Van Cayseele, 2007. "Complementary Platforms," LICOS Discussion Papers 18607, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, K.U.Leuven. [Downloadable!]
  4. Wilko Bolt & David Humphrey & Roland Uittenbogaard, 2008. "Transaction Pricing and the Adoption of Electronic Payments: A Cross-Country Comparison," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 4(1), pages 89-123, March. [Downloadable!]
  5. Roberto Roson, 2005. "Two-Sided Markets: A Tentative Survey," Review of Network Economics, Concept Economics, vol. 4(2), pages 142-160, June. [Downloadable!]
  6. Ron Borzekowski & Elizabeth K. Kiser, 2006. "The choice at the checkout: quantifying demand across payment instruments," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2006-17, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.). [Downloadable!]
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