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Common Ownership Does Not Have Anticompetitive Effects in the Airline Industry

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  • PATRICK DENNIS
  • KRISTOPHER GERARDI
  • CAROLA SCHENONE

Abstract

Institutions often own equity in multiple firms that compete in the same product market. Prior research has shown that these institutional “common owners” induce anticompetitive pricing behavior in the airline industry. This paper reevaluates this evidence and shows that the documented positive correlation between common ownership and airline ticket prices stems from the market share component of the common ownership measure, and not the ownership and control components. We further show that the results are sensitive to measures of investor control and to assumptions about equity holders' ownership and control during bankruptcy.

Suggested Citation

  • Patrick Dennis & Kristopher Gerardi & Carola Schenone, 2022. "Common Ownership Does Not Have Anticompetitive Effects in the Airline Industry," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 77(5), pages 2765-2798, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jfinan:v:77:y:2022:i:5:p:2765-2798
    DOI: 10.1111/jofi.13176
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Shiqi Liu & Xiaoyu Wang & Cong Li & Yuchen Zhang, 2024. "Financial Modeling of Common Institutional Ownership’s Governance Effect on Corporate Leverage Manipulation," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-25, December.
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    6. Rosati, Nicoletta & Bomprezzi, Pietro & Martinez Cillero, Maria, 2024. "Critical dimensions in the empirical measurement of common shareholding," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(PA).
    7. Gibbon, Alexandra J. & Schain, Jan Philip, 2023. "Rising markups, common ownership, and technological capacities," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    8. Vincenzo Denicolò & Fausto Panunzi, 2025. "Common Ownership, Competition, and Corporate Governance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 71(5), pages 3924-3943, May.
    9. Zeyu Wang & Qingze Wang, 2026. "Common ownership and corporate green innovation efficiency-based on a two stage value chain perspective," Asia-Pacific Journal of Regional Science, Springer, vol. 10(1), pages 1-35, March.
    10. Schneider, Thomas, 2025. "Executive incentives under common ownership," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    11. Li, Xuelin & Liu, Tong & Taylor, Lucian A., 2023. "Common ownership and innovation efficiency," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(3), pages 475-497.
    12. Omesh Kini & Sangho Lee & Mo Shen, 2024. "Common Institutional Ownership and Product Market Threats," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 70(5), pages 2705-2731, May.
    13. Wang, Jie & Chen, Liang & Li, Wanli, 2025. "Common institutional ownership and corporate trade credit," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    14. Jie (Jack) He & Lantian Liang & Hui (Grace) Wang & Han Xia, 2024. "Networking Behind the Scenes: Institutional Cross-Industry Holdings and Corporate Loan Markets," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 70(7), pages 4932-4952, July.
    15. Zhang, Chuyuan & Lee, Sang-Ho, 2026. "Common ownership and green managerial delegation contract in a vertically related market," MPRA Paper 128009, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Tian, Haowen & Wang, Junkai & Wu, Sirui, 2024. "Supply chain vertical common ownership and cost of loans," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).

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