IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ecl/stabus/1959.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Determinants of Margins in the Distribution Channel: An Empirical Investigation

Author

Listed:
  • Draganska, Michaela

    (Stanford U)

  • Klapper, Daniel

    (Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universitat)

  • Villas-Boas, Sofia B.

    (U of California, Berkeley)

Abstract

In this paper we describe how margins in the channel vary over time within a product category and identify the market, manufacturer, and retailer characteristics that explain this variation. To obtain the equilibrium margins, we explicitly model the behavior of the various agents in the marketplace. Because the behavior of the agents changes in response to changes in the economic environment, we observe shifts in the total channel margins and the way they are split between the channel members. We explain this variation by examining the impact of directly measurable factors on total margins in the distribution channel and the share of these margins that manufacturers and retailers obtain. We illustrate the proposed approach using data for the ground coffee category in Germany. Our empirical analysis demonstrates that while the market-level factors affect total margins in the channel, size and other characteristics of manufacturers and retailers have a larger impact on the way margins are split. Our findings have immediate implications for the product portfolios offered by manufacturers, the positioning of store brands, and the retail service level.

Suggested Citation

  • Draganska, Michaela & Klapper, Daniel & Villas-Boas, Sofia B., 2007. "Determinants of Margins in the Distribution Channel: An Empirical Investigation," Research Papers 1959, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
  • Handle: RePEc:ecl:stabus:1959
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://gsbapps.stanford.edu/researchpapers/library/RP1959.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter M. Guadagni & John D. C. Little, 1983. "A Logit Model of Brand Choice Calibrated on Scanner Data," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(3), pages 203-238.
    2. William J. Baumol & Edward A. Ide, 1956. "Variety in Retailing," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(1), pages 93-101, October.
    3. Bagwell, Kyle & Ramey, Garey, 1994. "Coordination Economies, Advertising, and Search Behavior in Retail Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(3), pages 498-517, June.
    4. K. Sudhir, 2001. "Structural Analysis of Manufacturer Pricing in the Presence of a Strategic Retailer," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(3), pages 244-264, October.
    5. Aviv Nevo, 2000. "Mergers with Differentiated Products: The Case of the Ready-to-Eat Cereal Industry," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 31(3), pages 395-421, Autumn.
    6. Trichy Krishan & Kitty Koelemeijer & Ram Rao, 2002. "Consistent Assortment Provision and Service Provision in a Retail Environment," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(1), pages 54-73, April.
    7. Vrinda Kadiyali & Pradeep Chintagunta & Naufel Vilcassim, 2000. "Manufacturer-Retailer Channel Interactions and Implications for Channel Power: An Empirical Investigation of Pricing in a Local Market," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(2), pages 127-148, September.
    8. Jagmohan S. Raju & Raj Sethuraman & Sanjay K. Dhar, 1995. "The Introduction and Performance of Store Brands," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 41(6), pages 957-978, June.
    9. B. Douglas Bernheim & Michael D. Whinston, 1990. "Multimarket Contact and Collusive Behavior," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 21(1), pages 1-26, Spring.
    10. David Besanko & Sachin Gupta & Dipak Jain, 1998. "Logit Demand Estimation Under Competitive Pricing Behavior: An Equilibrium Framework," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(11-Part-1), pages 1533-1547, November.
    11. Fiona Scott Morton & Florian Zettelmeyer, 2004. "The Strategic Positioning of Store Brands in Retailer--Manufacturer Negotiations," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 24(2), pages 161-194, March.
    12. M. Ayhan Kose & Christopher Otrok & Charles H. Whiteman, 2003. "International Business Cycles: World, Region, and Country-Specific Factors," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(4), pages 1216-1239, September.
    13. Hamilton, James D, 1983. "Oil and the Macroeconomy since World War II," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 91(2), pages 228-248, April.
    14. Draganska, Michaela & Klapper, Daniel, 2006. "Retail Environment and Manufacturer Competitive Intensity," Research Papers 1953, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    15. Bresnahan, Timothy F., 1989. "Empirical studies of industries with market power," Handbook of Industrial Organization, in: R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 17, pages 1011-1057, Elsevier.
    16. Roman Inderst & Greg Shaffer, 2007. "Retail Mergers, Buyer Power and Product Variety," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(516), pages 45-67, January.
    17. Sanjay K. Dhar & Stephen J. Hoch, 1997. "Why Store Brand Penetration Varies by Retailer," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(3), pages 208-227.
    18. Koen Pauwels & Shuba Srinivasan, 2004. "Who Benefits from Store Brand Entry?," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(3), pages 364-390, July.
    19. R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), 1989. "Handbook of Industrial Organization," Handbook of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 2, number 2.
    20. Narasimhan, Chakravarthi & Wilcox, Ronald T, 1998. "Private Labels and the Channel Relationship: A Cross-Category Analysis," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 71(4), pages 573-600, October.
    21. Lakshman Krishnamurthi & S. P. Raj, 1991. "An Empirical Analysis of the Relationship Between Brand Loyalty and Consumer Price Elasticity," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(2), pages 172-183.
    22. Venkatesh Shankar & Ruth N. Bolton, 2004. "An Empirical Analysis of Determinants of Retailer Pricing Strategy," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 28-49, May.
    23. R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), 1989. "Handbook of Industrial Organization," Handbook of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    24. J. Miguel Villas-Boas & Russell S. Winer, 1999. "Endogeneity in Brand Choice Models," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 45(10), pages 1324-1338, October.
    25. Paul R. Messinger & Chakravarthi Narasimhan, 1995. "Has Power Shifted in the Grocery Channel?," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 14(2), pages 189-223.
    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. Sofia Berto Villas-Boas, 2007. "Using Retail Data For Upstream Merger Analysis," Journal of Competition Law and Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 3(4), pages 689-715.
    2. Villas-Boas, Sofia Berto, 2007. "Wholesale Price Discrimination: Inference and Simulation," CUDARE Working Papers 7166, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    3. Villas-Boas, Sofia Berto, 2007. "Using Retail Scanner Data for Upstream Merger Analysis: Counterfactual Experiments in the Retail Coffee Market," CUDARE Working Papers 7163, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.

    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. Michaela Draganska & Daniel Klapper & Sofia B. Villas-Boas, 2010. "A Larger Slice or a Larger Pie? An Empirical Investigation of Bargaining Power in the Distribution Channel," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(1), pages 57-74, 01-02.
    2. Villas-Boas, Sofia B & Klapper, Daniel & Draganska, Michaela, 2010. "A Larger Slice or a Larger Pie? Investigating Margins in the Distribution Channel," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt064044x8, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    3. Draganska, Michaela & Klapper, Daniel, 2006. "Retail Environment and Manufacturer Competitive Intensity," Research Papers 1953, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    4. Richards, Timothy J. & Hamilton, Stephen F. & Patterson, Paul M., 2010. "Spatial Competition and Private Labels," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 35(2), pages 1-26, August.
    5. Vishal Singh & Ting Zhu, 2008. "Pricing and Market Concentration in Oligopoly Markets," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(6), pages 1020-1035, 11-12.
    6. Dutta, Shantanu & Bergen, Mark & Levy, Daniel, 2002. "Price Flexibility in Channels of Distribution: Evidence from Scanner Data," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 26(11), pages 1845-1900.
    7. Sofia Berto Villas-Boas, 2007. "Vertical Relationships between Manufacturers and Retailers: Inference with Limited Data," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 74(2), pages 625-652.
    8. K. Sudhir, 2001. "Structural Analysis of Manufacturer Pricing in the Presence of a Strategic Retailer," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(3), pages 244-264, October.
    9. Ting Zhang & Xiaowei Zhu & Qinglong Gou, 2017. "Demand Forecasting and Pricing Decision with the Entry of Store Brand under Various Information Sharing Scenarios," Asia-Pacific Journal of Operational Research (APJOR), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 34(02), pages 1-26, April.
    10. Toker Doganoglu & Daniel Klapper, 2006. "Goodwill and dynamic advertising strategies," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 5-29, March.
    11. K. Sudhir, 2001. "Competitive Pricing Behavior in the Auto Market: A Structural Analysis," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(1), pages 42-60, January.
    12. Pradeep K. Chintagunta & André Bonfrer & Inseong Song, 2002. "Investigating the Effects of Store-Brand Introduction on Retailer Demand and Pricing Behavior," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(10), pages 1242-1267, October.
    13. Karray Salma & Martín-Herrán Guiomar, 2008. "Investigating the Relationship Between Advertising and Pricing in a Channel with Private Label Offering: A Theoretic Model," Review of Marketing Science, De Gruyter, vol. 6(1), pages 1-39, August.
    14. Kaplow, Louis & Shapiro, Carl, 2007. "Antitrust," Handbook of Law and Economics, in: A. Mitchell Polinsky & Steven Shavell (ed.), Handbook of Law and Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 15, pages 1073-1225, Elsevier.
    15. Céline Bonnet & Pierre Dubois, 2010. "Inference on vertical contracts between manufacturers and retailers allowing for nonlinear pricing and resale price maintenance," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 41(1), pages 139-164, March.
    16. Cotterill, Ronald W & Putsis, William P, Jr & Dhar, Ravi, 2000. "Assessing the Competitive Interaction between Private Labels and National Brands," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 73(1), pages 109-137, January.
    17. Villas-Boas, Sofia Berto, 2007. "Using Retail Scanner Data for Upstream Merger Analysis: Counterfactual Experiments in the Retail Coffee Market," CUDARE Working Papers 7163, University of California, Berkeley, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    18. Sergio Meza & K. Sudhir, 2010. "Do private labels increase retailer bargaining power?," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 8(3), pages 333-363, September.
    19. Karray, Salma & Martín-Herrán, Guiomar, 2009. "A dynamic model for advertising and pricing competition between national and store brands," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 193(2), pages 451-467, March.
    20. Cheng, Rong & Duan, Yongrui & Zhang, Jianguang & Ke, Hua, 2021. "Impacts of store-brand introduction on a multiple-echelon supply chain," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 292(2), pages 652-662.

    More about this item

    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:ecl:stabus:1959. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/gsstaus.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.