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Endogenous Mergers of Complements with Mixed Bundling

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  • Ricardo Flores-Fillol
  • Rafael Moner-Colonques

Abstract

This paper studies endogenous mergers of complements with mixed bundling, by allowing both for joint and separate consumption. After merger, partner fi…rms decrease the price of the bundled system. Besides, when markets for individual components are suffi…ciently important, partner …firms raise prices of stand-alone products, exploiting their monopoly power in local markets and making substitute 'mix-and-match' composite products less attractive to consumers. Even though these effects favor the pro fitability of mergers, merging is not always an equilibrium outcome. The reason is that outsiders respond by cutting their prices to retain their market share, and mergers can be unprofitable when competition is intense. From a welfare analysis, we observe that the number of mergers observed in equilibrium may be either excessive (when markets for individual components are important) or suboptimal (when markets for individual components are less important). Keywords: complements; merger; mixed bundling; separate consumption JEL classi…fication: L13; L41; D43
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  • Ricardo Flores-Fillol & Rafael Moner-Colonques, 2011. "Endogenous Mergers of Complements with Mixed Bundling," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 39(3), pages 231-251, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:revind:v:39:y:2011:i:3:p:231-251
    DOI: 10.1007/s11151-011-9281-0
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    Cited by:

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    3. Cristina Pardo-Garcia & Jose Sempere-Monerris, 2015. "Equilibrium mergers in a composite good industry with efficiencies," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 6(1), pages 101-127, March.
    4. Sue H. Mialon, 2014. "Product Bundling And Incentives For Mergers And Strategic Alliances," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 52(2), pages 562-575, April.
    5. Álvarez-SanJaime, Óscar & Cantos-Sanchez, Pedro & Moner-Colonques, Rafael & Sempere-Monerris, Jose J., 2020. "Pricing and infrastructure fees in shaping cooperation in a model of high-speed rail and airline competition," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 22-41.
    6. Gregor Langus & Vilen Lipatov & Jorge Padilla, 2019. "Non-horizontal mergers with investments into compatibility," CESifo Working Paper Series 7617, CESifo.
    7. McHardy, Jolian & Reynolds, Michael & Trotter, Stephen, 2023. "A consumer surplus, welfare and profit enhancing strategy for improving urban public transport networks," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Complements; Merger; Mixed bundling; Separate consumption; L13; L41; D43;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L41 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Monopolization; Horizontal Anticompetitive Practices
    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection

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