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A Theory Of Bilateral Oligopoly

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  • KENNETH HENDRICKS
  • R. PRESTON MCAFEE

Abstract

In horizontal mergers, concentration is often measured with the Hirschman–Herfindahl Index (HHI). This index yields the price–cost margins in Cournot competition. In many modern merger cases, both buyers and sellers have market power, and indeed, the buyers and sellers may be the same set of firms. In such cases, the HHI is inapplicable. We develop an alternative theory that has similar data requirements as the HHI, applies to intermediate good industries with arbitrary numbers of firms on both sides, and specializes to the HHI when buyers have no market power. The more inelastic is the downstream demand, the more captive production and consumption (not traded in the intermediate market) affects price–cost margins. The analysis is applied to the merger of the gasoline refining and retail assets of Exxon and Mobil in the western United States. (JEL L13, L41)

Suggested Citation

  • Kenneth Hendricks & R. Preston Mcafee, 2010. "A Theory Of Bilateral Oligopoly," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 48(2), pages 391-414, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecinqu:v:48:y:2010:i:2:p:391-414
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1465-7295.2009.00241.x
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    2. Sapi, Geza, 2012. "Bargaining, vertical mergers and entry," DICE Discussion Papers 61, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    3. Nestor Duch-Brown, 2017. "Platforms to business relations in online platform ecosystems," JRC Working Papers on Digital Economy 2017-07, Joint Research Centre.
    4. Haita, Corina, 2014. "Endogenous market power in an emissions trading scheme with auctioning," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 253-278.
    5. Simon Loertscher & Markus Reisinger, 2014. "Market structure and the competitive effects of vertical integration," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 45(3), pages 471-494, September.
    6. Reisinger, Markus, 2014. "Two-part tariff competition between two-sided platforms," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 168-180.
    7. Andreas Lange, 2012. "On the Endogeneity of Market Power in Emissions Markets," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 52(4), pages 573-583, August.
    8. Ricardo Medeiros de Castro, 2021. "Documento de Trabalho 001/2021- The problematic binary approach to the concept of dominance," Documentos de Trabalho 12021, Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica (Cade), Departamento de Estudos Econômicos.
    9. Gabriel Englander & Christopher Costello, 2023. "A fish cartel for Africa," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    10. Tanaka, Kenta & Matsukawa, Isamu & Managi, Shunsuke, 2020. "An experimental investigation of bilateral oligopoly in emissions trading markets," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    11. Yates, Andrew J. & Doyle, Martin W. & Rigby, J.R. & Schnier, Kurt E., 2013. "Market power, private information, and the optimal scale of pollution permit markets with application to North Carolina's Neuse River," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 256-276.
    12. Van Moer, Geert, 2019. "Electricity market competition when forward contracts are pairwise efficient," MPRA Paper 96660, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Yen-Hao Hsieh & Soe-Tsyr Yuan & Hsiao-Chen Liu, 2014. "Service interaction design: A Hawk-Dove game based approach to managing customer expectations for oligopoly service providers," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 697-713, September.
    14. Ricardo Medeiros de Castro, 2021. "Documento de Trabalho 01/2021- The problematic binary approach to the concept of dominance," Documentos de Trabalho 2021010, Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica (Cade), Departamento de Estudos Econômicos.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L41 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Monopolization; Horizontal Anticompetitive Practices

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