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Do retail mergers affect competition? Evidence from grocery retailing

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  • Daniel S. Hosken
  • Luke M. Olson
  • Loren K. Smith

Abstract

This study estimates the price effects of horizontal mergers in the U.S. grocery retailing industry. We examine fourteen regions affected by mergers, including mergers in highly concentrated and relatively unconcentrated markets. We identify price effects by comparing markets affected by mergers to unaffected markets using difference‐in‐difference estimation with three different comparison groups, propensity score weights, and by using the synthetic control method. Our results are robust to the choice of control group and estimation technique. We find that mergers in highly concentrated markets are most frequently associated with price increases, and mergers in less concentrated markets are most often associated with price decreases.

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  • Daniel S. Hosken & Luke M. Olson & Loren K. Smith, 2018. "Do retail mergers affect competition? Evidence from grocery retailing," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 3-22, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jemstr:v:27:y:2018:i:1:p:3-22
    DOI: 10.1111/jems.12218
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    Cited by:

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    2. Marie-Laure Allain & Claire Chambolle & Stéphane Turolla, 2022. "The Effect of Input Price Discrimination on Retail Prices: Theory and Evidence from France," Working Papers SMART 22-06, INRAE UMR SMART.
    3. Allain, Marie-Laure & Avignon, Rémi & Chambolle, Claire, 2020. "Purchasing alliances and product variety," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    4. Dennis Rickert & Jan Philip Schain & Joel Stiebale, 2021. "Local Market Structure and Consumer Prices: Evidence from a Retail Merger," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(3), pages 692-729, September.
    5. Stöhr, Annika, 2021. "Price effects of horizontal mergers: A retrospective on retrospectives," Ilmenau Economics Discussion Papers 151, Ilmenau University of Technology, Institute of Economics.
    6. Joel Stiebale & Florian Szücs, 2022. "Mergers and market power: evidence from rivals' responses in European markets," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 53(4), pages 678-702, December.
    7. Meilin Ma & Tina L Saitone & Richard J Volpe & Richard J Sexton & Michelle Saksena & Craig GundersenEditor, 2019. "Market Concentration, Market Shares, and Retail Food Prices: Evidence from the U.S. Women, Infants, and Children Program," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 41(3), pages 542-562.
    8. repec:ags:aaea22:336009 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Dennis W. Carlton & Mark A. Israel, 2021. "Effects of the 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines on Merger Review: Based on Ten Years of Practical Experience," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 58(1), pages 213-234, February.
    10. Argentesi, Elena & Buccirossi, Paolo & Cervone, Roberto & Duso, Tomaso & Marrazzo, Alessia, 2021. "The effect of mergers on variety in grocery retailing," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    11. Zeballos, Eliana & Dong, Xiao & Islamaj, Ergys, 2023. "A Disaggregated View of Market Concentration in the Food Retail Industry," USDA Miscellaneous 333546, United States Department of Agriculture.
    12. Díaz, Fernando & Galetovic, Alexander & Muñoz, Roberto & Tapia, Jocelyn, 2024. "Unraveling the price-concentration relationship: The Role of national distribution centers in Chilean supermarket industry consolidation," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    13. Ralph B. Siebert, 2022. "What Determines Heterogeneous Merger Effects on Competitive Outcomes?," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(1), pages 217-256, March.
    14. MacDonald, James M. & Dong, Xiao & Fuglie, Keith O., 2023. "Concentration and Competition in U.S. Agribusiness," Economic Information Bulletin 337566, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    15. Meilin Ma & Tina L. Saitone & Richard J. Volpe & Richard J. Sexton & Michelle Saksena, 2019. "Market Concentration, Market Shares, and Retail Food Prices: Evidence from the U.S. Women, Infants, and Children Program," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(3), pages 542-562, September.
    16. Norbert Maier & Julie Runge Jørgensen & Asger Lunde & Otto Toivanen, 2021. "Ex-post Analysis of the TeliaSonera-Chess 2005 Merger," De Economist, Springer, vol. 169(2), pages 141-178, May.
    17. Richards, Timothy J. & Paudel, Ujjwol, 2024. "Minimum Wages and Pass-Through," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 343648, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    18. Rebecca Cleary & Lauren Chenarides, 2022. "Food retail profits, competition, and the Great Recession," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 38(3), pages 557-578, July.
    19. Jon Steinman, 2020. "Consumer Food Co‐ops in the Age of Grocery Giants," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 79(3), pages 833-875, May.

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