IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolet/v197y2020ics0165176520303712.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Passive backward acquisitions and downstream collusion

Author

Listed:
  • Shekhar, Shiva
  • Thomes, Tim Paul

Abstract

We investigate the effects of passive backward acquisitions in their efficient upstream supplier on downstream firms’ ability to collude in a dynamic game of price competition with homogeneous goods. We find that passive backward acquisitions impede downstream collusion. The main driver of our finding is that a passive backward acquisition secures an acquirer from zero continuation profits after a breakdown of collusion. This anti-collusive effect cannot be outweighed by a lower collusive price that is set by the cartel to increase the acquirer’s profit from its claim on the upstream margin.

Suggested Citation

  • Shekhar, Shiva & Thomes, Tim Paul, 2020. "Passive backward acquisitions and downstream collusion," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:197:y:2020:i:c:s0165176520303712
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2020.109611
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165176520303712
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econlet.2020.109611?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Matthias Hunold & Konrad Stahl, 2016. "Passive vertical integration and strategic delegation," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 47(4), pages 891-913, November.
    2. Hunold, Matthias, 2020. "Non-Discriminatory Pricing, Partial Backward Ownership, and Entry Deterrence," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    3. David Gilo & Yossi Moshe & Yossi Spiegel, 2006. "Partial cross ownership and tacit collusion," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 37(1), pages 81-99, March.
    4. Biancini, Sara & Ettinger, David, 2017. "Vertical integration and downstream collusion," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 99-113.
    5. Flath, David, 1989. "Vertical integration by means of shareholding interlocks," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 369-380.
    6. Cabral, Luis & Vasconcelos, Helder & Brito, Duarte, 2016. "Competitive Effects of Partial Control in an Input Supplier," CEPR Discussion Papers 11397, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Chen, Yongmin, 2001. "On Vertical Mergers and Their Competitive Effects," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 32(4), pages 667-685, Winter.
    8. Greenlee, Patrick & Raskovich, Alexander, 2006. "Partial vertical ownership," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(4), pages 1017-1041, May.
    9. Samuel Haas & Johannes Paha, 0. "Non-Controlling Minority Shareholdings and Collusion," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 0, pages 1-24.
    10. Harrington, Joseph E, Jr, 1991. "The Determination of Price and Output Quotas in a Heterogeneous Cartel," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 32(4), pages 767-792, November.
    11. David Gilo & Yossi Moshe & Yossi Spiegel, 2006. "Partial Cross Ownership and Tacit Collusion," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 37(1), pages 81-99, Spring.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Charistos, Konstantinos & Pinopoulos, Ioannis N. & Skartados, Panagiotis, 2022. "Passive forward ownership and upstream collusion," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    2. Alipranti, Maria & Petrakis, Emmanuel & Skartados, Panagiotis, 2022. "On the pro-competitive effects of passive partial backward ownership," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    3. Chuyuan Zhang & Sang‐Ho Lee, 2023. "Foreign passive ownership and tariff‐induced free technology transfer under vertical integration," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 91(2), pages 89-117, March.

    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. Hunold, Matthias, 2020. "Non-Discriminatory Pricing, Partial Backward Ownership, and Entry Deterrence," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    2. Hunold, Matthias & Petrishcheva, Vasilisa, 2022. "Foreclosure and tunneling with partial vertical ownership," DICE Discussion Papers 391, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    3. Matthias Hunold & Shiva Shekhar, 2022. "Supply Chain Innovations and Partial Ownership," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 60(1), pages 109-145, February.
    4. Hunold, Matthias, 2017. "Backward ownership, uniform pricing and entry deterrence," DICE Discussion Papers 250, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    5. Papadopoulos, Konstantinos G. & Skartados, Panagiotis, 2021. "The ambiguous competitive effects of passive partial forward integration," UC3M Working papers. Economics 33354, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía.
    6. Konstantinos G. Papadopoulos & Emmanuel Petrakis & Panagiotis Skartados, 2022. "The ambiguous competitive effects of passive partial forward ownership," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 89(2), pages 540-568, October.
    7. Romain Lestage, 2021. "Input price discrimination and non-controlling vertical shareholding," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 226-250, June.
    8. Fiocco, Raffaele, 2016. "The strategic value of partial vertical integration," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 284-302.
    9. Jie Shuai & Mengyuan Xia & Chenhang Zeng, 2023. "Upstream market structure and downstream partial ownership," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 22-47, January.
    10. Hunold, Matthias & Schlütter, Frank, 2022. "Supply Contracts under Partial Forward Ownership," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2022003, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    11. Ren, Da & Guo, Rui & Lan, Yanfei & Shang, Changjing, 2021. "Shareholding strategies for selling green products on online platforms in a two-echelon supply chain," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    12. Alipranti, Maria & Petrakis, Emmanuel & Skartados, Panagiotis, 2022. "On the pro-competitive effects of passive partial backward ownership," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    13. Matthias Hunold & Vasilisa Petrishcheva, 2022. "Foreclosure and Tunneling with Partial Vertical Ownership," CEPA Discussion Papers 57, Center for Economic Policy Analysis.
    14. Chul-Hi Park & Toshihiro Matsumura & Sang-Ho Lee, 2022. "Procurement of advanced inputs and welfare-reducing vertical integration," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 135(3), pages 255-283, April.
    15. Newham, M. & Seldeslachts, J. & Banal-Estanol, A., 2018. "Common Ownership and Market Entry: Evidence from the Pharmaceutical Industry," Working Papers 18/03, Department of Economics, City University London.
    16. Patricia Charléty & Marie-Cécile Fagart & Saïd Souam, 2009. "Incentives for Partial Acquisitions and Real Market Concentration," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 165(3), pages 508-534, September.
    17. Lee, Sang-Ho & Matsumura, Toshihiro & Park, Chul-Hi, 2017. "Procurement of Advanced Technology and Welfare-Reducing Vertical Integration," MPRA Paper 79109, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Brito, Duarte & Ribeiro, Ricardo & Vasconcelos, Helder, 2018. "Quantifying the coordinated effects of partial horizontal acquisitions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 108-149.
    19. Foros, Øystein & Jarle Kind, Hans & Shaffer, Greg, 2011. "Mergers and partial ownership," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(7), pages 916-926.
    20. Ricardo Gonçalves & Peyman Khezr & Flavio Menezes, 2020. "Partial Vertical Ownership with Asymmetric Information," Discussion Papers Series 634, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Tacit collusion; Passive backward acquisitions; Bertrand competition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - 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
    • L81 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce

    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:eee:ecolet:v:197:y:2020:i:c:s0165176520303712. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolet .

    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.