IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/orstsc/v6y2021i3p209-227.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Does Regulation Impact Strategic Repositioning by Firms Across Submarkets? Evidence from the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry

Author

Listed:
  • Ajay Bhaskarabhatla

    (Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 3000 DR Rotterdam, Netherlands)

  • Priyatam Anurag

    (Indian Institute of Management Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh 226013, India)

  • Chirantan Chatterjee

    (Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 380015, India)

  • Enrico Pennings

    (Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, 3000 DR Rotterdam, Netherlands)

Abstract

We study coercive institutional pressures as an impetus for firms to reposition across intraindustry boundaries. Integrating the literatures on strategic repositioning and submarkets, we predict that firms respond to regulations limiting the profitability of a submarket by repositioning and shifting demand to proximate, unregulated submarkets within the industry. We expect repositioning to be more pronounced for firms with greater ability to shift demand across submarkets. Evidence from pharmaceutical firms’ responses to partial price regulation in India supports our hypotheses. Repositioning firms increase prices and sales in the unregulated submarket, consistent with a Dorfman–Steiner-type model of endogenous and costly demand shifting toward the unregulated submarket. We contribute to the literature on strategic repositioning and highlight challenges of regulating industries with internal boundaries and insulated niches.

Suggested Citation

  • Ajay Bhaskarabhatla & Priyatam Anurag & Chirantan Chatterjee & Enrico Pennings, 2021. "How Does Regulation Impact Strategic Repositioning by Firms Across Submarkets? Evidence from the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 6(3), pages 209-227, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:orstsc:v:6:y:2021:i:3:p:209-227
    DOI: 10.1287/stsc.2020.0121
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/stsc.2020.0121
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/stsc.2020.0121?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ajay Bhaskarabhatla, 2018. "Regulating Pharmaceutical Prices in India," India Studies in Business and Economics, Springer, number 978-3-319-93393-1, December.
    2. Steven D. Levitt & Chad Syverson, 2008. "Market Distortions When Agents Are Better Informed: The Value of Information in Real Estate Transactions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(4), pages 599-611, November.
    3. Lewis, Tracy R & Sappington, David E M, 1989. "An Informational Effect When Regulated Firms Enter Unregulated Markets," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 35-45, March.
    4. Ajay Bhaskarabhatla & Chirantan Chatterjee & Bas Karreman, 2016. "Hit Where It Hurts: Cartel Policing Using Targeted Sales and Supply Embargoes," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 59(4), pages 805-846.
    5. Giacomo Calzolari & Carlo Scarpa, 2016. "Conglomerates And Regulation," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(3), pages 1648-1669, July.
    6. Christopher R. Knittel & Victor Stango, 2003. "Price Ceilings as Focal Points for Tacit Collusion: Evidence from Credit Cards," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(5), pages 1703-1729, December.
    7. Daniel Bennett & Wesley Yin, 2019. "The Market for High-Quality Medicine: Retail Chain Entry and Drug Quality in India," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 101(1), pages 76-90, March.
    8. Bar-Nahum, Ziv & Finkelshtain, Israel & Kan, Iddo, 2018. "On the Effectiveness of Price-Ceiling Regulations: The Case of Fluid-Milk Market in Israel," Discussion Papers 290055, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Department of Agricultural Economics and Management.
    9. Armstrong, Mark & Sappington, David E.M., 2007. "Recent Developments in the Theory of Regulation," Handbook of Industrial Organization, in: Mark Armstrong & Robert Porter (ed.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 27, pages 1557-1700, Elsevier.
    10. Bottazzi, Giulio & Dosi, Giovanni & Lippi, Marco & Pammolli, Fabio & Riccaboni, Massimo, 2001. "Innovation and corporate growth in the evolution of the drug industry," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 19(7), pages 1161-1187, July.
    11. Miraldo, Marisa, 2009. "Reference pricing and firms' pricing strategies," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 176-197, January.
    12. Brennan, Timothy J & Palmer, Karen, 1994. "Comparing the Costs and Benefits of Diversification by Regulated Firms," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 115-136, May.
    13. Martin Gaynor & Kate Ho & Robert J. Town, 2015. "The Industrial Organization of Health-Care Markets," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 53(2), pages 235-284, June.
    14. Nicholas Argyres & Lyda Bigelow & Jack A. Nickerson, 2015. "Dominant designs, innovation shocks, and the follower's dilemma," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(2), pages 216-234, February.
    15. Venkataraman, S. & Stremersch, S., 2007. "The Debate on Influencing Doctors’ Decisions: Are Drug Characteristics the Missing Link?," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2007-056-MKT, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    16. Bhaskarabhatla, Ajay & Chatterjee, Chirantan, 2017. "The role of physicians in prescribing irrational fixed-dose combination medicines in India," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 179-187.
    17. Robert Seamans & Feng Zhu, 2014. "Responses to Entry in Multi-Sided Markets: The Impact of Craigslist on Local Newspapers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(2), pages 476-493, February.
    18. Raffaele Fiocco, 2012. "Competition and regulation with product differentiation," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 287-307, December.
    19. Mujumdar, Sudesh & Pal, Debashis, 2005. "Do price ceilings abroad increase U.S. drug prices?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 9-13, April.
    20. Cécile Aubert & Jérôme Pouyet, 2006. "Incomplete regulation, market competition and collusion," Review of Economic Design, Springer;Society for Economic Design, vol. 10(2), pages 113-142, August.
    21. Guy David & Sara Markowitz & Seth Richards-Shubik, 2010. "The Effects of Pharmaceutical Marketing and Promotion on Adverse Drug Events and Regulation," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 2(4), pages 1-25, November.
    22. Mark Armstrong & David E.M. Sappington, 2006. "Regulation, Competition and Liberalization," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 44(2), pages 325-366, June.
    23. Anton, James J. & Gertler, Paul J., 1988. "External markets and regulation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 243-260, November.
    24. Neu, Werner, 1993. "Allocative Inefficiency Properties of Price-Cap Regulation," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 5(2), pages 159-182, June.
    25. Natalie Mizik & Robert Jacobson, 2004. "Are Physicians ÜEasy MarksÝ? Quantifying the Effects of Detailing and Sampling on New Prescriptions," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(12), pages 1704-1715, December.
    26. Steven Klepper & Peter Thompson, 2006. "Submarkets and the evolution of market structure," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 37(4), pages 861-886, December.
    27. Justine Hastings & Ali Hortaçsu & Chad Syverson, 2017. "Sales Force and Competition in Financial Product Markets: The Case of Mexico's Social Security Privatization," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 85(6), pages 1723-1761, November.
    28. Armstrong, Mark & Porter, Robert, 2007. "Preface to the Handbook of Industrial Organization, Volume 3," Handbook of Industrial Organization, in: Mark Armstrong & Robert Porter (ed.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 0, pages 00, Elsevier.
    29. Anoop R. Menon & Dennis A. Yao, 2017. "Elevating Repositioning Costs: Strategy Dynamics and Competitive Interactions," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(10), pages 1953-1963, October.
    30. Sriram Venkataraman & Stefan Stremersch, 2007. "The Debate on Influencing Doctors' Decisions: Are Drug Characteristics the Missing Link?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(11), pages 1688-1701, November.
    31. Lisa M. George & Joel Waldfogel, 2006. "The New York Times and the Market for Local Newspapers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 435-447, March.
    32. Franco Malerba & Luigi Orsenigo, 2002. "Innovation and market structure in the dynamics of the pharmaceutical industry and biotechnology: towards a history-friendly model," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 11(4), pages 667-703, August.
    33. Horowitz, Ira, 1970. "A Note on Advertising and Uncertainty," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(2), pages 151-160, April.
    34. Steven Klepper & Peter Thompson, 2006. "Submarkets and the evolution of market structure," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 37(4), pages 861-886, December.
    35. Richard D. Wang & J. Myles Shaver, 2016. "The Multifaceted Nature of Competitive Response: Repositioning and New Product Launch as Joint Response to Competition," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 1(3), pages 148-162, September.
    36. J. Myles Shaver, 2019. "Interpreting Interactions in Linear Fixed-Effect Regression Models: When Fixed-Effect Estimates Are No Longer Within-Effects," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 4(1), pages 25-40, March.
    37. Gregory S. Crawford & Matthew Shum, 2005. "Uncertainty and Learning in Pharmaceutical Demand," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 73(4), pages 1137-1173, July.
    38. HOROWITZ, Ira, 1970. "A note on advertising and uncertainty," LIDAM Reprints CORE 56, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    39. Dehez, Pierre & Jacquemin, Alex, 1975. "A Note on Advertising Policy under Uncertainty and Dynamic Conditions," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(1), pages 73-78, September.
    40. Mary Tripsas, 2008. "Customer preference discontinuities: a trigger for radical technological change," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2-3), pages 79-97.
    41. John M. de Figueiredo & Brian S. Silverman, 2007. "Churn, Baby, Churn: Strategic Dynamics Among Dominant and Fringe Firms in a Segmented Industry," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(4), pages 632-650, April.
    42. Mary J. Benner & Joel Waldfogel, 2016. "The Song Remains the Same? Technological Change and Positioning in the Recorded Music Industry," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 1(3), pages 129-147, September.
    43. Gabriel Natividad, 2013. "Financial Capacity and Discontinuous Investment: Evidence from Emerging Market Multibusiness Firms," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 26(9), pages 2375-2410.
    44. Margaret K. Kyle, 2007. "Pharmaceutical Price Controls and Entry Strategies," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 89(1), pages 88-99, February.
    45. Mark Armstrong & Robert Porter (ed.), 2007. "Handbook of Industrial Organization," Handbook of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 3, number 1.
    46. Pierre Azoulay, 2002. "Do Pharmaceutical Sales Respond to Scientific Evidence?," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(4), pages 551-594, December.
    47. Brick, Ivan E & Jagpal, Harsharanjeet S, 1981. "Monopoly Price-Advertising Decision-Making under Uncertainty," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 279-285, March.
    48. Richard D. Wang & J. Myles Shaver, 2014. "Competition-driven repositioning," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(11), pages 1585-1604, November.
    49. Task Force on Pharmaceutical Pricing (chairman:Pronab Sen), 2005. "Task Force to Explore Options other than Price Control for Achieving the Objective of Making Available Life-saving Drugs at Reasonable Prices," Working Papers id:295, eSocialSciences.
    50. Alan T. Sorensen, 2000. "Equilibrium Price Dispersion in Retail Markets for Prescription Drugs," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(4), pages 833-862, August.
    51. Sappington, David E. M., 2003. "Regulating horizontal diversification," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 291-315, March.
    52. repec:dau:papers:123456789/13654 is not listed on IDEAS
    53. Gabriel Natividad & Evan Rawley, 2016. "Interdependence and Performance: A Natural Experiment in Firm Scope," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 1(1), pages 12-31, March.
    54. Chang, Yang-Ming & Warren, John T., 1997. "Allocative efficiency and diversification under price-cap regulation," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 3-17, March.
    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. Pu‐yan Nie & Hong‐xing Wen & Chan Wang, 2023. "Price cap regulation under duopoly," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(3), pages 1376-1382, April.

    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. Armstrong, Mark & Sappington, David E.M., 2007. "Recent Developments in the Theory of Regulation," Handbook of Industrial Organization, in: Mark Armstrong & Robert Porter (ed.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 27, pages 1557-1700, Elsevier.
    2. Robert Seamans & Feng Zhu, 2017. "Repositioning and Cost-Cutting: The Impact of Competition on Platform Strategies," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(2), pages 83-99, June.
    3. Giacomo Calzolari & Carlo Scarpa, 2009. "Footloose Monopolies: Regulating a “National Champion”," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(4), pages 1179-1214, December.
    4. Anusua Datta & Dhaval Dave, 2017. "Effects of Physician‐directed Pharmaceutical Promotion on Prescription Behaviors: Longitudinal Evidence," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 450-468, April.
    5. Raffaele Fiocco, 2012. "Competition and regulation with product differentiation," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 287-307, December.
    6. Sood, Ashish & Kappe, Eelco & Stremersch, Stefan, 2014. "The commercial contribution of clinical studies for pharmaceutical drugs," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 65-77.
    7. Kremer, Sara T.M. & Bijmolt, Tammo H.A. & Leeflang, Peter S.H. & Wieringa, Jaap E., 2008. "Generalizations on the effectiveness of pharmaceutical promotional expenditures," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 234-246.
    8. Camerani, Roberto & Corrocher, Nicoletta & Fontana, Roberto, 2020. "It's never too late (to enter)… till it is! Firms’ entry and exit in the digital audio player industry," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    9. Guy David & Sara Markowitz, 2011. "Side Effects of Competition: the Role of Advertising and Promotion in Pharmaceutical Markets," NBER Working Papers 17162, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Young Hou & Dennis Yao, 2022. "Pushed into a crowd: Repositioning costs, resources, and competition in the RTE cereal industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 3-29, January.
    11. Lalit Manral, 2015. "The demand-side dynamics of entrant heterogeneity," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 401-445, April.
    12. Bilgehan Uzunca & Bruno Cassiman, 2023. "Entry diversion: Deterrence by diverting submarket entry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(1), pages 11-47, January.
    13. Pradeep Chintagunta & Renna Jiang & Ginger Jin, 2009. "Information, learning, and drug diffusion: The case of Cox-2 inhibitors," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 7(4), pages 399-443, December.
    14. Christian Garavaglia & Franco Malerba & Luigi Orsenigo & Michele Pezzoni, 2013. "Technological Regimes and Demand Structure in the Evolution of the Pharmaceutical Industry," Economic Complexity and Evolution, in: Andreas Pyka & Esben Sloth Andersen (ed.), Long Term Economic Development, edition 127, pages 61-94, Springer.
    15. Suppliet, Moritz, 2020. "Umbrella branding in pharmaceutical markets," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    16. Richard D. Wang & J. Myles Shaver, 2016. "The Multifaceted Nature of Competitive Response: Repositioning and New Product Launch as Joint Response to Competition," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 1(3), pages 148-162, September.
    17. Stremersch, S. & Lemmens, A., 2008. "Sales Growth of New Pharmaceuticals Across the Globe: The Role of Regulatory Regimes," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2008-026-MKT, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    18. Fiocco Raffaele, 2013. "The Optimal Institutional Design of Vertically Related Markets with Unknown Upstream Costs," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 12(2), pages 183-210, June.
    19. Fiocco, Raffaele & Guo, Dongyu, 2020. "Regulatory risk, vertical integration, and upstream investment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    20. Kissan Joseph & Murali Mantrala, 2009. "A model of the role of free drug samples in physicians’ prescription decisions," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 15-29, March.

    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:inm:orstsc:v:6:y:2021:i:3:p:209-227. 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: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    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.