IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reecon/v70y2016i4p558-568.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Product design and decision rights in vertical structures

Author

Listed:
  • Dubois, Pierre
  • Jullien, Bruno

Abstract

The paper argues that the emergence of private labels can be partially explained by the new information technologies available at the retail level. In our approach, the owner of a brand has “decision rights” on product design, while the details of the production and distribution are left to contractual negotiation. Manufacturers have privileged information about the cost of improving quality, while distributors have private information on the impact of quality on demand. We show that ownership of the brand should be allocated to the party with a relative informational advantage. In particular, if the information of the distributor improves due to a technological shock on data collection and information management, it may become optimal for the distributor to introduce its own brand, rather than to distribute a manufacturer׳s brand.

Suggested Citation

  • Dubois, Pierre & Jullien, Bruno, 2016. "Product design and decision rights in vertical structures," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(4), pages 558-568.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reecon:v:70:y:2016:i:4:p:558-568
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rie.2016.09.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090944316301740
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rie.2016.09.003?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. Sergio Meza & K. Sudhir, 2010. "Do private labels increase retailer bargaining power?," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 8(3), pages 333-363, September.
    2. Fiona Scott Morton & Florian Zettelmeyer, 2004. "The Strategic Positioning of Store Brands in Retailer--Manufacturer Negotiations," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 24(2), pages 161-194, March.
    3. Bergès-Sennou Fabian & Bontems Philippe & Réquillart Vincent, 2004. "Economics of Private Labels: A Survey of Literature," Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, De Gruyter, vol. 2(1), pages 1-25, February.
    4. Wouter Dessein, 2002. "Authority and Communication in Organizations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 69(4), pages 811-838.
    5. Christophe Bontemps & Valérie Orozco & Vincent Réquillart, 2008. "Private Labels, National Brands and Food Prices," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 33(1), pages 1-22, August.
    6. Mills, David E, 1995. "Why Retailers Sell Private Labels," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 4(3), pages 509-528, Fall.
    7. Grossman, Sanford J & Hart, Oliver D, 1986. "The Costs and Benefits of Ownership: A Theory of Vertical and Lateral Integration," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(4), pages 691-719, August.
    8. Pradeep K. Chintagunta & André Bonfrer & Inseong Song, 2002. "Investigating the Effects of Store-Brand Introduction on Retailer Demand and Pricing Behavior," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(10), pages 1242-1267, October.
    9. Schmalensee, Richard, 1982. "Product Differentiation Advantages of Pioneering Brands," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(3), pages 349-365, June.
    10. Gabrielsen, Tommy Staahl & Sorgard, Lars, 2007. "Private labels, price rivalry, and public policy," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 403-424, February.
    11. William Comanor & Patrick Rey, 2000. "Vertical Restraints and the Market Power of Large Distributors," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 17(2), pages 135-153, September.
    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. Iván Valdés de la Fuente & Gonzalo Escobar Elexpuru, 2022. "Is it rational for a large-retailer to sell an own-brand product similar to the branded product of a large manufacturer? A Vertical Product Differentiation Model," Revista Desarrollo y Sociedad, Universidad de los Andes,Facultad de Economía, CEDE, vol. 90(3), pages 77-109, February.

    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. Fabian Bergès & Zohra Bouamra-Mechemache, 2012. "Is producing a private label counterproductive for a branded manufacturer?," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 39(2), pages 213-239, April.
    2. Ying, Xiongwei & Anders, Sven M., 2013. "Competition between Private Label and National Brand for Health-differentiated Food Product: A Canadian Retailing Case," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 151280, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Christophe Bontemps & Valérie Orozco & Vincent Réquillart, 2008. "Private Labels, National Brands and Food Prices," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 33(1), pages 1-22, August.
    4. Zhiqi Chen & Heng Xu, 2021. "Private labels and product quality under asymmetric information," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 743-759, November.
    5. Irz, Xavier & Mazzocchi, Mario & Réquillart, Vincent & Soler, Louis-Georges, 2015. "Research in Food Economics: past trends and new challenges," Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement, Editions NecPlus, vol. 96(01), pages 187-237, March.
    6. Wu, Lifang & Yang, Wei & Wu, Jessica, 2021. "Private label management: A literature review," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 368-384.
    7. Johansen, Bjørn Olav, 2012. "Private Labels, Rent Shifting And Consumer Welfare," Working Papers in Economics 02/12, University of Bergen, Department of Economics.
    8. Rong Luo, 2018. "Store brands and retail grocery competition," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(4), pages 653-668, October.
    9. Sckokai, Paolo & Soregaroli, Claudio, 2006. "Do consumers benefit from private label development?," 98th Seminar, June 29-July 2, 2006, Chania, Crete, Greece 10068, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    10. Shen, Qichao & He, Bo & Qing, Qiankai, 2022. "Interplays between manufacturer advertising and retailer store brand introduction: Agency vs. wholesale contracts," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    11. Bontemps, Christophe & Orozco, Valerie & Requillart, Vincent, 2005. "Confirming the Price Effects of Private Labels Development," 2005 International Congress, August 23-27, 2005, Copenhagen, Denmark 24735, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    12. Castellari, Elena & Moro, Daniele Daniele & Platoni, Silvia & Sckokai, Paolo, 2014. "Investigating the impact of Private Labels on National Brand prices in the Italian yogurt market," 2014 Third Congress, June 25-27, 2014, Alghero, Italy 173020, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA).
    13. Johannes Paha, 2017. "Wholesale Pricing with Incomplete Information about Private Label Products," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201736, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    14. Sun, Shaoyan & An, Henry & Marcoul, Philippe Andre, 2018. "Retailers' private labels strategy under the weather effect," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 273820, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    15. Venturini, Luciano, 2006. "Vertical competition between manufacturers and retailers and upstream incentives to innovate and differentiate," 98th Seminar, June 29-July 2, 2006, Chania, Crete, Greece 10050, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    16. Hasnas, Irina & Wey, Christian, 2015. "Full versus partial collusion among brands and private label producers," DICE Discussion Papers 190, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    17. Fabian Bergès & Philippe Bontems & Vincent Réquillart, 2009. "L'impact économique du développement des marques de distributeurs," Economie & Prévision, La Documentation Française, vol. 0(3), pages 41-56.
    18. Bocionek, Milena & Anders, Sven M. & Kiesel, Kristin, 2012. "Estimating price rigidity in vertically differentiated food product categories with private labels," 2012 Annual Meeting, August 12-14, 2012, Seattle, Washington 124529, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    19. Keller, Kristopher O. & Dekimpe, Marnik G. & Geyskens, Inge, 2022. "Adding budget and premium private labels to standard private labels: Established empirical generalizations, emerging empirical insights, and future research," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 98(1), pages 5-23.
    20. Amrouche, Nawel & Yan, Ruiliang, 2015. "Aggressive or partnership strategy: Which choice is better for the national brand?," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 50-63.

    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:70:y:2016:i:4:p:558-568. 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.