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Inferring conduct under the threat of entry: the case of the Brazilian cement industry

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  • Salvo, Alberto

Abstract

This paper demonstrates that when an industry faces potential entry and this threat of entry constrains pre-entry prices, cost and conduct are not identified from the comparative statics of equilibrium. In such a setting, the identifying assumption behind the well-established technique of relying on exogenous demand perturbations to empirically distinguish between alternative hypotheses of conduct is shown to fail. The Brazilian cement industry, where the threat of imports restrains market outcomes, provides an empirical illustration. In particular, price-cost margins estimated using this established technique are considerably biased downward, underestimating the degree of market power. A test of conduct is proposed, adapted to this constrained setting, which suggests that outcomes in the industry are collusive and characterised by market division.

Suggested Citation

  • Salvo, Alberto, 2004. "Inferring conduct under the threat of entry: the case of the Brazilian cement industry," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 6728, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
  • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:6728
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    3. Adam Rosen, 2007. "Identification and estimation of firms' marginal cost functions with incomplete knowledge of strategic behavior," CeMMAP working papers CWP03/07, Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice, Institute for Fiscal Studies.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Conduct; Multimarket competition; Market division; Limit pricing; Cement;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • L41 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Monopolization; Horizontal Anticompetitive Practices
    • L70 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Primary Products and Construction - - - General

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