IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pdn/dispap/92.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Impact of Product Differentiation on the Channel Structure in a Manufacturer-Driven Supply Chain

Author

Listed:
  • Angelika Endres-Fröhlich

    (Paderborn University)

Abstract

We study the impact of product differentiation on different distribution systems in a supply chain. Our market is characterized by an asymmetric supply chain with two retailers and three manufacturers that each produce one differentiated good. We determine that a non-exclusive distribution system is a Nash equilibrium for all degrees of product differentiation between the three goods. Furthermore, we assess the welfare implications of various distribution systems. We identify that the non-exclusive equilibrium channel structure provides the highest social welfare and highest consumer surplus for all degrees of product differentiation. Aside from that, we find a strong incentive for the manufacturers to form an exclusive selling cartel for close substitutes, which would cause a Pareto improvement for all firms but harm overall welfare.

Suggested Citation

  • Angelika Endres-Fröhlich, 2022. "The Impact of Product Differentiation on the Channel Structure in a Manufacturer-Driven Supply Chain," Working Papers Dissertations 92, Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:pdn:dispap:92
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://groups.uni-paderborn.de/wp-wiwi/RePEc/pdf/dispap/DP92.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Angelika Endres-Fröhlich & Burkhard Hehenkamp & Joachim Heinzel, 2022. "The Impact of Product Differentiation on Retail Bundling in a Vertical Market," Working Papers Dissertations 91, Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
    2. Joachim Heinzel & Simon Hoof, 2020. "Oligopolistic Upstream Competition with Differentiated Inputs," Working Papers CIE 129, Paderborn University, CIE Center for International Economics.
    3. Avinash Dixit, 1979. "A Model of Duopoly Suggesting a Theory of Entry Barriers," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 20-32, Spring.
    4. Rafael Moner‐Colonques & José J. Sempere‐Monerris & Amparo Urbano, 2004. "The Manufacturers' Choice of Distribution Policy under Successive Duopoly," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 70(3), pages 532-548, January.
    5. Mauleon, Ana & Sempere-Monerris, Jose J. & Vannetelbosch, Vincent J., 2011. "Networks of manufacturers and retailers," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 77(3), pages 351-367, March.
    6. Chiara Fumagalli & Massimo Motta, 2006. "Exclusive Dealing and Entry, when Buyers Compete," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(3), pages 785-795, June.
    7. Gangshu (George) Cai & Yue Dai & Sean X. Zhou, 2012. "Exclusive Channels and Revenue Sharing in a Complementary Goods Market," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(1), pages 172-187, January.
    8. S. Chan Choi, 1991. "Price Competition in a Channel Structure with a Common Retailer," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(4), pages 271-296.
    9. Yaron Yehezkel, 2008. "Retailers' choice of product variety and exclusive dealing under asymmetric information," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 39(1), pages 115-143, March.
    10. Mark Armstrong & Julian Wright, 2007. "Two-sided Markets, Competitive Bottlenecks and Exclusive Contracts," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 32(2), pages 353-380, August.
    11. Edirisinghe, N.C.P. & Bichescu, B. & Shi, X., 2011. "Equilibrium analysis of supply chain structures under power imbalance," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 214(3), pages 568-578, November.
    12. Gabrielsen, Tommy Staahl, 1997. "Equilibrium retail distribution systems," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 105-120, November.
    13. Robin S. Lee, 2013. "Vertical Integration and Exclusivity in Platform and Two-Sided Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(7), pages 2960-3000, December.
    14. Nirvikar Singh & Xavier Vives, 1984. "Price and Quantity Competition in a Differentiated Duopoly," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 15(4), pages 546-554, Winter.
    15. Patrick Rey & Joseph Stiglitz, 1995. "The Role of Exclusive Territories in Producers' Competition," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 26(3), pages 431-451, Autumn.
    16. Hackner, Jonas, 2000. "A Note on Price and Quantity Competition in Differentiated Oligopolies," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 233-239, August.
    17. Spence, Michael, 1976. "Product Differentiation and Welfare," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 66(2), pages 407-414, May.
    18. David Besanko & Martin K. Perry, 1993. "Equilibrium Incentives for Exclusive Dealing in a Differentiated Products Oligopoly," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 24(4), pages 646-668, Winter.
    19. Rafael Moner-Colonques & José J. Sempere-Monerris & Amparo Urbano, 2004. "The Manufacturers’ Choice of Distribution Policy under Successive Duopoly," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 70(3), pages 532-548, January.
    20. O'Brien, Daniel P & Shaffer, Greg, 1993. "On the Dampening-of-Competition Effect of Exclusive Dealing," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(2), pages 215-221, June.
    21. Stephen Hansen & Massimo Motta, 2019. "Vertical Exclusion with Downstream Risk Aversion or Limited Liability," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(3-4), pages 409-447, September.
    22. Wu, Chongqi & Mallik, Suman, 2010. "Cross sales in supply chains: An equilibrium analysis," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(2), pages 158-167, August.
    23. Amir, Rabah & Erickson, Philip & Jin, Jim, 2017. "On the microeconomic foundations of linear demand for differentiated products," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 641-665.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Choné, Philippe & Linnemer, Laurent, 2020. "Linear demand systems for differentiated goods: Overview and user’s guide," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    2. Angelika Endres-Fröhlich & Burkhard Hehenkamp & Joachim Heinzel, 2022. "The Impact of Product Differentiation on Retail Bundling in a Vertical Market," Working Papers Dissertations 91, Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
    3. Markus Reisinger & Tim Paul Thomes, 2017. "Manufacturer collusion: Strategic implications of the channel structure," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 923-954, December.
    4. Fanti, Luciano & Gori, Luca & Mammana, Cristiana & Michetti, Elisabetta, 2014. "Local and global dynamics in a duopoly with price competition and market share delegation," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 253-270.
    5. Bian, Junsong & Zhao, Xuan & Liu, Yunchuan, 2020. "Single vs. cross distribution channels with manufacturers’ dynamic tacit collusion," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    6. Upender Subramanian & Jagmohan S. Raju & Z. John Zhang, 2013. "Exclusive Handset Arrangements in the Wireless Industry: A Competitive Analysis," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(2), pages 246-270, March.
    7. Mukhopadhyay, Samar K. & Yue, Xiaohang & Zhu, Xiaowei, 2011. "A Stackelberg model of pricing of complementary goods under information asymmetry," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(2), pages 424-433, December.
    8. Philippe Choné & Laurent Linnemer, 2019. "The quasilinear quadratic utility model: An overview," Working Papers hal-02318633, HAL.
    9. Pinopoulos, Ioannis N., 2011. "Input pricing by an upstream monopolist into imperfectly competitive downstream markets," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 144-151, September.
    10. Belleflamme,Paul & Peitz,Martin, 2015. "Industrial Organization," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107687899.
    11. Quan Zheng & Honggang Hu & Xiajun Amy Pan, 2023. "Implications of product substitutability in a distribution channel," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 32(6), pages 1636-1653, June.
    12. Amir, Rabah & Jin, Jim Y. & Lasselle, Laurence, 2023. "Uniform, efficient and independent Ramsey taxes across markets," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 373-386.
    13. Karray, Salma, 2015. "Cooperative promotions in the distribution channel," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 49-58.
    14. Gangshu (George) Cai & Yue Dai & Sean X. Zhou, 2012. "Exclusive Channels and Revenue Sharing in a Complementary Goods Market," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(1), pages 172-187, January.
    15. Frago Kourandi & Nikolaos Vettas, 2024. "Dynamic Vertical Foreclosure with Learning-by-Doing Production Technologies," Games, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-23, February.
    16. Li, Shengyu & Luo, Rong, 2020. "Non-Exclusive Dealing with Retailer Differentiation and Market Penetration," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    17. Michael Kopel & Anna Ressi & Luca Lambertini, 2017. "Capturing Direct and Cross Price Effects in a Differentiated Products Duopoly Model," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 85(3), pages 282-294, June.
    18. Joachim Heinzel & Simon Hoof, 2020. "Oligopolistic Upstream Competition with Differentiated Inputs," Working Papers CIE 129, Paderborn University, CIE Center for International Economics.
    19. Krzysztof Kosiec, 2016. "Liberalisation of International Trade – The Case of Asymmetric Countries," Central European Journal of Economic Modelling and Econometrics, Central European Journal of Economic Modelling and Econometrics, vol. 8(3), pages 143-160, September.
    20. Tommy Staahl Gabrielsen & Lars Sørgard, 1999. "Exclusive versus Common Dealership," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 66(2), pages 353-366, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    product differentiation; endogenous markets; supply chains;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • D47 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Market Design
    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:pdn:dispap:92. 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: WP-WiWi-Info (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/fwpadde.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.