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Environmental quality and monopoly pricing

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  • Amir, Rabah
  • Gama, Adriana
  • Maret, Isabelle

Abstract

This paper investigates various aspects of a monopolist's pricing and environmental quality choice, as two simultaneous decisions and with each as a separate decision, the other variable being exogenously fixed. Green quality is modeled as in Spence (1975), and the present analysis builds on his pioneering work. We contrast the private and the first-best socially optimal solutions. While the latter follows the intuitive property of assigning a higher price to higher quality, the former solution does so under a natural condition of log-supermodular demand. This condition is studied in some detail, and related to properties of an underlying utility function. We complete this characterization of optimal pricing by providing a counter-intuitive example where the two-dimensional interaction is such that the monopolist ends up charging a lower optimal price than the social planner, as well as producing a lower quality. Finally, we investigate respective sufficient conditions under which (i) the private and first-best solutions coincide, and (ii) either one is larger than the other.

Suggested Citation

  • Amir, Rabah & Gama, Adriana & Maret, Isabelle, 2019. "Environmental quality and monopoly pricing," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:resene:v:58:y:2019:i:c:s0928765518302288
    DOI: 10.1016/j.reseneeco.2019.07.003
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    3. Gaumont, Damien & Badra, Yassine & Kamburova, Detelina, 2023. "Market-dependent preferences, positive and negative network effects and welfare," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 143-154.
    4. Hussain, Jafar & Lee, Chien-Chiang & Chen, Yongxiu, 2022. "Optimal green technology investment and emission reduction in emissions generating companies under the support of green bond and subsidy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    5. Christos Constantatos & Christos Pargianas & Eftichios S. Sartzetakis, 2021. "Green consumers and environmental policy," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 23(1), pages 105-140, February.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Environmental quality; Green goods; Pricing quality; Multi-distortion monopoly pricing; Organic food; Q50; L12; D42;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q50 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - General
    • L12 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Monopoly; Monopolization Strategies
    • D42 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Monopoly

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