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Buyer Power and Supplier Incentives

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Author Info
Roman Inderst
Christian Wey

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Abstract

This paper investigates how the formation of larger buyers affects a supplier's profits and, by doing so, his incentives to undertake non-contractible activities. We first identify two chan-nels of buyer power, which allows larger buyers to obtain discounts. We subsequently exam-ine the effects of buyer power on the supplier's incentives and on social welfare. Contrary to some informal claims in the policy debate on buyer power, we find that the exercise of buyer power - even though reducing supplier's profits- may often increase a supplier's incentive to undertake welfare enhancing activities.

ZUSAMMENFASSUNG - (Käufermacht und die Investitionsanreize der Hersteller)
Dieser Aufsatz entwickelt einen Modellrahmen zur Analyse der Wirkungen von Käufermacht auf Zwischenproduktmärkten. Zunächst werden Bedingungen identifiziert, die gewährleisten, daß Käufer mit großem Nachfragevolumen von Herstellern günstigere Konditionen erhalten als relativ kleine Käufer und somit über "Käufermacht" verfügen. So dann untersucht die Arbeit, ob die Existenz von Käufermacht zu einer Verringerung der Innovationsanreize auf Seiten der Herstellern führt. Es wird gezeigt, daß eine solche Vermutung im Allgemeinen unzutreffend ist und daß Käufermacht im Gegenteil häufig höhere Investitionsanstrengungen auf der Herstellerseite induziert.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB), Research Unit: Competition and Innovation (CIG) in its series CIG Working Papers with number SP II 2003-05.

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Length: 25 pages
Date of creation: Jun 2003
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Handle: RePEc:wzb:wzebiv:spii2003-05

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Related research
Keywords: Buyer Power; Investments; Competition Policy;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure and Pricing - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
L40 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - General

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References listed on IDEAS
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.:
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Full references

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. João VIEIRA-MONTEZ, 2004. "Downstream Concentration and Producer's Capacity Choice," Cahiers de Recherches Economiques du Département d'Econométrie et d'Economie politique (DEEP) 04.13, Université de Lausanne, Faculté des HEC, DEEP. [Downloadable!]
  2. Bergès, Fabian & Chambolle, Claire, 2007. "Threat of Exit as a Source of Bargaining Power," IDEI Working Papers 471, Institut d'Économie Industrielle (IDEI), Toulouse. [Downloadable!]
  3. Miklos-Thal, Jeanine & Rey, Patrick & Vergé, Thibaud, 2008. "Buyer Power and Intraband Coordination," IDEI Working Papers 500, Institut d'Économie Industrielle (IDEI), Toulouse. [Downloadable!]
  4. Nisvan Erkal, 2003. "Buyer-Supplier Interaction, Asset Specificity, And Product Choice," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 885, The University of Melbourne. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. George Symeonidis, 2009. "Downstream merger and welfare in a bilateral oligopoly," Economics Discussion Papers 671, University of Essex, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  6. Inderst, Roman & Shaffer, Greg, 2004. "Retail Mergers: Buyer Power and Product Variety," CEPR Discussion Papers 4236, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Horst Raff & Nicolas Schmitt, 2008. "Buyer Power in International Markets," Kiel Working Papers 1431, Kiel Institute for the World Economy. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Bergès-Sennou, F. & Chambolle, C., 2005. "The reciprocal producers' incentives to prey and the relailers' buying power," Economics Working Paper Archive (Toulouse) 200508, French Institute for Agronomy Research (INRA), Economics Laboratory in Toulouse (ESR Toulouse). [Downloadable!]
  9. Howard Smith & John Thanassoulis, 2009. "Upstream Competition and Downstream Buyer Power," Economics Series Working Papers 420, University of Oxford, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. George Symeonidis, 2007. "Downstream Competition, Bargaining and Welfare," Economics Discussion Papers 625, University of Essex, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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