IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reecon/v68y2014i1p84-93.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Downstream mode of competition with upstream market power

Author

Listed:
  • Manasakis, Constantine
  • Vlassis, Minas

Abstract

In a two-tier oligopoly, where the downstream firms are locked in pair-wise exclusive relationships with their upstream input suppliers, the equilibrium mode of competition in the downstream market is endogenously determined as a renegotiation-proof contract signed between each downstream firm and its exclusive upstream input supplier. We find that the upstream–downstream exclusive relationships credibly sustain the Cournot (Bertrand) mode of competition in the downstream market, when the goods are substitutes (complements). In contrast to previous studies, this result holds irrespectively of the degree of product differentiation and the distribution of bargaining power between the upstream and the downstream firm, over the pair-specific input price.

Suggested Citation

  • Manasakis, Constantine & Vlassis, Minas, 2014. "Downstream mode of competition with upstream market power," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 84-93.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reecon:v:68:y:2014:i:1:p:84-93
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rie.2013.12.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090944313000719
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rie.2013.12.002?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. Victor J. Tremblay & Carol Horton Tremblay & Kosin Isariyawongse, 2013. "Cournot and Bertrand Competition when Advertising Rotates Demand: The Case of Honda and Scion," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 125-141, February.
    2. Mathias Dewatripont, 1988. "Commitment Through Renegotiation-Proof Contracts with Third Parties," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 55(3), pages 377-390.
    3. Milliou, Chrysovalantou & Petrakis, Emmanuel, 2007. "Upstream horizontal mergers, vertical contracts, and bargaining," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 963-987, October.
    4. Luciano Fanti & Nicola Meccheri, 2011. "The Cournot-Bertrand profit differential in a differentiated duopoly with unions and labour decreasing returns," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 31(1), pages 233-244.
    5. Pinopoulos, Ioannis N., 2011. "Input pricing by an upstream monopolist into imperfectly competitive downstream markets," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 144-151, September.
    6. Qiu, Larry D., 1997. "On the Dynamic Efficiency of Bertrand and Cournot Equilibria," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 213-229, July.
    7. Dewatripont, Mathias, 1987. "Entry deterrence under trade unions," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-2), pages 149-156.
    8. Symeonidis, George, 2003. "Comparing Cournot and Bertrand equilibria in a differentiated duopoly with product R&D," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 39-55, January.
    9. Emmanuel Petrakis & Minas Vlassis, 2004. "Endogenous wage bargaining institutions in oligopolistic sectors," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 24(1), pages 55-73, July.
    10. Jonas Björnerstedt & Johan Stennek, 2001. "Bilateral Oligopoly," CIG Working Papers FS IV 01-08, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB), Research Unit: Competition and Innovation (CIG).
    11. Bjornerstedt, Jonas & Stennek, Johan, 2007. "Bilateral oligopoly -- The efficiency of intermediate goods markets," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 884-907, October.
    12. Oswald, Andrew J, 1982. "The Microeconomic Theory of the Trade Union," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 92(367), pages 576-595, September.
    13. Xavier Vives, 2001. "Oligopoly Pricing: Old Ideas and New Tools," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 026272040x, December.
    14. Dastidar, Krishnendu Ghosh, 1997. "Comparing Cournot and Bertrand in a Homogeneous Product Market," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 205-212, July.
    15. Lopez, Monica Correa & Naylor, Robin A., 2004. "The Cournot-Bertrand profit differential: A reversal result in a differentiated duopoly with wage bargaining," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 681-696, June.
    16. Booth,Alison L., 1994. "The Economics of the Trade Union," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521468398, January.
    17. Lommerud, Kjell Erik & Straume, Odd Rune & Sorgard, Lars, 2005. "Downstream merger with upstream market power," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 717-743, April.
    18. Piercarlo Zanchettin, 2006. "Differentiated Duopoly with Asymmetric Costs," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(4), pages 999-1015, December.
    19. Amir, Rabah & Jin, Jim Y., 2001. "Cournot and Bertrand equilibria compared: substitutability, complementarity and concavity," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 19(3-4), pages 303-317, March.
    20. Henrick Horn & Asher Wolinsky, 1988. "Bilateral Monopolies and Incentives for Merger," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 19(3), pages 408-419, Autumn.
    21. Petrakis, Emmanuel & Vlassis, Minas, 2000. "Endogenous scope of bargaining in a union-oligopoly model: when will firms and unions bargain over employment?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 261-281, May.
    22. Catherine C. de Fontenay & Joshua S. Gans, 2005. "Vertical Integration in the Presence of Upstream Competition," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 36(3), pages 544-572, Autumn.
    23. Paul Klemperer & Margaret Meyer, 1986. "Price Competition vs. Quantity Competition: The Role of Uncertainty," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 17(4), pages 618-638, Winter.
    24. Vickers, John, 1985. "Delegation and the Theory of the Firm," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 95(380a), pages 138-147, Supplemen.
    25. Leonard Cheng, 1985. "Comparing Bertrand and Cournot Equilibria: A Geometric Approach," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 16(1), pages 146-152, Spring.
    26. Fershtman, Chaim & Judd, Kenneth L, 1987. "Equilibrium Incentives in Oligopoly," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(5), pages 927-940, December.
    27. Steven D. Sklivas, 1987. "The Strategic Choice of Managerial Incentives," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 18(3), pages 452-458, Autumn.
    28. Nirvikar Singh & Xavier Vives, 1984. "Price and Quantity Competition in a Differentiated Duopoly," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 15(4), pages 546-554, Winter.
    29. Dastidar, Krishnendu Ghosh, 1996. "Quantity versus Price in a Homogeneous Product Duopoly," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 83-91, January.
    30. Ziss, Steffen, 1995. "Vertical Separation and Horizontal Mergers," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 63-75, March.
    31. Tremblay, Carol Horton & Tremblay, Victor J., 2011. "The Cournot-Bertrand model and the degree of product differentiation," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 111(3), pages 233-235, June.
    32. Hackner, Jonas, 2000. "A Note on Price and Quantity Competition in Differentiated Oligopolies," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 93(2), pages 233-239, August.
    33. David M. Kreps & Jose A. Scheinkman, 1983. "Quantity Precommitment and Bertrand Competition Yield Cournot Outcomes," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 14(2), pages 326-337, Autumn.
    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. Yuta Kittaka & Noriaki Matsushima & Fuyuki Saruta, 2021. "Competition between physical and electronic content retailers," ISER Discussion Paper 1123, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
    2. Domenico Buccella, 2015. "Unionized duopoly, market competition with differentiated products, and welfare," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 42(4), pages 455-473, December.
    3. Alipranti, Maria & Petrakis, Emmanuel, 2020. "Fixed fee discounts and Bertrand competition in vertically related markets," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 19-26.
    4. Dusanee Kesavayuth & Vasileios Zikos, 2016. "Price or Quantity? A New Irrelevance Result for Mixed Markets," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), pages 29-42, March.
    5. Alipranti, Maria & Milliou, Chrysovalantou & Petrakis, Emmanuel, 2014. "Price vs. quantity competition in a vertically related market," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 124(1), pages 122-126.
    6. Jung, Se-Youn & Huh, Woonghee Tim & Park, Kun Soo, 2022. "Impact of the arm’s length regulation on a supply chain with asymmetric retailers," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 300(3), pages 865-883.
    7. Fanti, Luciano, 2016. "Social welfare and cross-ownership in a vertical industry: When the mode of competition matters for antitrust policy," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 37, pages 8-16.
    8. Jochen Manegold, 2016. "Stackelberg Competition among Intermediaries in a Differentiated Duopoly with Product Innovation," Working Papers CIE 98, Paderborn University, CIE Center for International Economics.
    9. Andre Jungmittag, 2018. "The Direct and Indirect Effects of Product Market Regulations in the Retail Trade Sector," JRC Research Reports JRC112222, Joint Research Centre.
    10. Michael Polemis & Konstantinos Eleftheriou, 2018. "To Regulate Or To Deregulate? The Role Of Downstream Competition In Upstream Monopoly Vertically Linked Markets," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(1), pages 51-63, January.
    11. Luciano Fanti & Marcella Scrimitore, 2017. "How to compete? Cournot vs. Bertrand in a vertical structure with an integrated input supplier," Discussion Papers 2017/221, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    12. Sonja Brangewitz & Jochen Manegold, 2015. "Competition and Product Innovation of Intermediaries in a Differentiated Duopoly," Working Papers CIE 90, Paderborn University, CIE Center for International Economics.
    13. Debasmita Basak, 2023. "Price and Quantity Competition under Vertical Pricing," Games, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-8, June.
    14. Elias Asproudis & Eleftherios Filippiadis, 2021. "Environmental Technological Choice in a Cournot-Bertrand Model," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 43-58, March.
    15. Nicola Meccheri, 2021. "Biased managers in vertically related markets," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(3), pages 724-736, April.
    16. Nicola Meccheri, 2019. "Biased managers in a vertical structure," Working Paper series 19-12, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    17. Olga Rozanova, 2017. "The possibility to renegotiate the contracts and the equilibrium mode of competition in vertically related markets," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 37(3), pages 1573-1580.
    18. Luciano Fanti & Nicola Meccheri, 2015. "On the Cournot–Bertrand Profit Differential and the Structure of Unionisation in a Managerial Duopoly," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 266-287, December.
    19. Kangsik Choi & Seonyoung Lim, 2023. "Input Price Discrimination in Endogenous Competition Mode," The Japanese Economic Review, Springer, vol. 74(2), pages 301-330, April.
    20. Bin Ying & Leonard F. S. Wang & Qidi Zhang, 2023. "Upstream collusion and corporate social responsibility in downstream competition," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(2), pages 1020-1028, March.
    21. Luciano Fanti & Marcella Scrimitore, 2019. "How to Compete? Cournot versus Bertrand in a Vertical Structure with an Integrated Input Supplier," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 85(3), pages 796-820, January.

    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. Luciano Fanti & Nicola Meccheri, 2015. "On the Cournot–Bertrand Profit Differential and the Structure of Unionisation in a Managerial Duopoly," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 266-287, December.
    2. Arghya Ghosh & Manipushpak Mitra, 2008. "Comparing Bertrand and Cournot Outcomes in the Presence of Public Firms," Discussion Papers 2008-18, School of Economics, The University of New South Wales.
    3. Fanti, Luciano, 2013. "Cross-ownership and unions in a Cournot duopoly: When profits reduce with horizontal product differentiation," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 34-40.
    4. Alipranti, Maria & Milliou, Chrysovalantou & Petrakis, Emmanuel, 2014. "Price vs. quantity competition in a vertically related market," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 124(1), pages 122-126.
    5. Symeonidis, George, 2010. "Downstream merger and welfare in a bilateral oligopoly," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 230-243, May.
    6. Lee, DongJoon & Choi, Kangsik & Nariu, Tatsuhiko, 2016. "Endogenous Choice of Price or Quantity Contract with Upstream R&D Investment: Linear Pricing and Two-part Tariff Contract with Bargaining," MPRA Paper 72752, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Nicola Meccheri & Luciano Fanti, 2012. "Managerial Delegation Schemes in a Duopoly with Endogenous Production Costs: A Comparison of Sales and Relative Profit Delegation under Centralised Unionisation," Working Paper series 44_12, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    8. Mónica Correa‐López, 2007. "Price and Quantity Competition in a Differentiated Duopoly with Upstream Suppliers," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(2), pages 469-505, June.
    9. George Symeonidis, 2008. "Downstream Competition, Bargaining, and Welfare," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(1), pages 247-270, 03.
    10. Kangsik, Choi, 2012. "Cournot and Bertrand competition with asymmetric costs in a mixed duopoly revisited," MPRA Paper 37704, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 28 Mar 2012.
    11. Luciano Fanti & Marcella Scrimitore, 2019. "How to Compete? Cournot versus Bertrand in a Vertical Structure with an Integrated Input Supplier," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 85(3), pages 796-820, January.
    12. Kangsik, Choi, 2011. "Cournot and Bertrand competition with asymmetric costs in a mixed duopoly," MPRA Paper 34100, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Fanti, Luciano & Meccheri, Nicola, 2014. "Profits and competition under alternative technologies in a unionized duopoly with product differentiation," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 157-168.
    14. Manipushpak Mitra & Rupayan Pal & Arindam Paul & P. M. Sharada, 2020. "Equilibrium Coexistence of Public and Private Firms and the Plausibility of Price Competition," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 176(2), pages 217-242.
    15. Fanti, Luciano & Gori, Luca & Mammana, Cristiana & Michetti, Elisabetta, 2014. "Local and global dynamics in a duopoly with price competition and market share delegation," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 253-270.
    16. Alberto Iozzi & Tommaso Valletti, 2014. "Vertical Bargaining and Countervailing Power," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 6(3), pages 106-135, August.
    17. M. Breton & A. Turki & G. Zaccour, 2004. "Dynamic Model of R&D, Spillovers, and Efficiency of Bertrand and Cournot Equilibria," Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, Springer, vol. 123(1), pages 1-25, October.
    18. Rupayan Pal, "undated". "The Cournot-Bertrand profit differential: A Reversal result in network goods duopoly," Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai Working Papers 2013-014, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, India.
    19. Kangsik, Choi, 2008. "Cournot-Bertrand competition in a unionized mixed duopoly," MPRA Paper 12787, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 26 Dec 2008.
    20. Milliou, Chrysovalantou & Petrakis, Emmanuel, 2007. "Upstream horizontal mergers, vertical contracts, and bargaining," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 963-987, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Oligopoly; Vertical relations; Wholesale prices; Equilibrium mode of 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
    • L42 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Vertical Restraints; Resale Price Maintenance; Quantity Discounts

    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:reecon:v:68:y:2014:i:1:p:84-93. 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/inca/622941 .

    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.