IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/rqfnac/v25y2005i3p215-231.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Limited Liability and Market Power

Author

Listed:
  • Teresa John
  • Lemma Senbet
  • Anant Sundaram
  • Peter Woodward

Abstract

This paper evaluates the welfare effects of limited liability on firm behavior when market power is present. A risk-neutral monopolist facing uncertain demand (with constant returns to scale technology) produces higher output, yielding higher expected profits when costless exit is induced by limited liability. The higher output may increase social welfare (monopolist profit plus consumer surplus) even though the monopolist may overproduce relative to the quantity that maximizes social welfare. When no market power is present, the overproduction resulting from the provision of limited liability results in loss of social welfare. Appropriate use of liability limitation laws can thus provide policy makers an additional policy instrument with which to mitigate the effects of market power. Copyright Springer Science + Business Media, Inc. 2005

Suggested Citation

  • Teresa John & Lemma Senbet & Anant Sundaram & Peter Woodward, 2005. "Limited Liability and Market Power," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 215-231, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:rqfnac:v:25:y:2005:i:3:p:215-231
    DOI: 10.1007/s11156-005-4765-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11156-005-4765-3
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11156-005-4765-3?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John, Teresa A & John, Kose, 1993. "Top-Management Compensation and Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 48(3), pages 949-974, July.
    2. Dotan, Amihud & Ravid, S Abraham, 1985. "On the Interaction of Real and Financial Decisions of the Firm under Uncertainty," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 40(2), pages 501-517, June.
    3. Scott, William Robert, 1912. "Constitution and Finance of English, Scottish and Irish Joint-Stock Companies to 1720," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, volume 1, number scott1912a.
    4. A. Mitchell Polinsky & William P. Rogerson, 1983. "Products Liability, Consumer Misperceptions, and Market Power," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 14(2), pages 581-589, Autumn.
    5. Phillips, Gordon M., 1995. "Increased debt and industry product markets An empirical analysis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 189-238, February.
    6. Scott, William Robert, 1912. "Constitution and Finance of English, Scottish and Irish Joint-Stock Companies to 1720," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, volume 3, number scott1912c.
    7. Sappington, David, 1983. "Limited liability contracts between principal and agent," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 1-21, February.
    8. Brander, James A. & Lewis, Tracy R., 1986. "Oligopoly and Financial Structure: The Limited Liability Effect," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(5), pages 956-970, December.
    9. Kose John, 1993. "Managing Financial Distress and Valuing Distressed Securities: A Survey and a Research Agenda," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 22(3), Fall.
    10. Brander, James A & Spencer, Barbara J, 1989. "Moral Hazard and Limited Liability: Implications for the Theory of the Firm," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 30(4), pages 833-849, November.
    11. DeAngelo, Harry & Masulis, Ronald W., 1980. "Optimal capital structure under corporate and personal taxation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 3-29, March.
    12. Kahn, Charles & Scheinkman, Jose, 1985. "Optimal employment contracts with bankruptcy constraints," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 343-365, August.
    13. Black, Fischer & Scholes, Myron S, 1973. "The Pricing of Options and Corporate Liabilities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(3), pages 637-654, May-June.
    14. Chevalier, Judith A, 1995. "Do LBO Supermarkets Charge More? An Empirical Analysis of the Effects of LBOs on Supermarket Pricing," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(4), pages 1095-1112, September.
    15. Klemperer, Paul D & Meyer, Margaret A, 1989. "Supply Function Equilibria in Oligopoly under Uncertainty," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 57(6), pages 1243-1277, November.
    16. Kose John & Lemma W. Senbet & Anant K. Sundaram, 1991. "Cross-Border Liability of Multinational Enterprises, Border Taxes, and Capital Structure," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 20(4), Winter.
    17. Gilson, Stuart C. & John, Kose & Lang, Larry H. P., 1990. "Troubled debt restructurings*1: An empirical study of private reorganization of firms in default," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 315-353, October.
    18. Scott, William Robert, 1912. "Constitution and Finance of English, Scottish and Irish Joint-Stock Companies to 1720," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, volume 2, number scott1912b.
    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. Tetsuya Shinkai & Takao Ohkawa & Makoto Okamura & Kozo Harimaya, 2012. "Why did the Dutch East India Co. outperform the British East India Co.? —A theoretical explanation based on the objective of the firm and limited liability—," Discussion Paper Series 96, School of Economics, Kwansei Gakuin University, revised Dec 2012.
    2. Leslie Hannah, 2015. "A global corporate census: publicly traded and close companies in 1910," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 68(2), pages 548-573, May.
    3. Takao Ohkawa & Tetsuya Shinkai & Makoto Okamura & Kozo Harimaya, 2012. "Endogenous Determination of the Liability Rule in Oligopolistic Markets," Discussion Paper Series 91, School of Economics, Kwansei Gakuin University, revised Jul 2012.

    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. Kedia, Simi, 2006. "Estimating product market competition: Methodology and application," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 875-894, March.
    2. Abdulaziz Istaitieh & José M. Rodríguez‐Fernández, 2006. "Factor‐product markets and firm's capital structure: A literature review," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(1), pages 49-75.
    3. T. Franck & N. Huyghebaert, 2004. "On the Interactions between Capital Structure and Product Markets.A Survey of the Literature," Review of Business and Economic Literature, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Review of Business and Economic Literature, vol. 0(4), pages 727-787.
    4. Istaitieh, Abdulaziz & Rodriguez-Fernandez, Jose M., 2006. "Factor-product markets and firm's capital structure: A literature review," Review of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 49-75.
    5. Lord, Richard A. & McIntyre, James Jr., 2003. "Leverage, imports, profitability, exchange rates, and capital investment: a panel data study of the textile and apparel industries 1974-1987," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 287-310.
    6. Jianjun Miao, 2005. "Optimal Capital Structure and Industry Dynamics," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(6), pages 2621-2659, December.
    7. Friedrich, Benjamin U. & Zator, Michał, 2023. "Flexibility costs of debt: Danish exporters during the cartoon crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(2), pages 91-117.
    8. Appelbaum, Elie, 2021. "Improving the efficacy of carbon tax policies," Journal of Government and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 4(C).
    9. Eric Hilt, 2014. "History of American Corporate Governance: Law, Institutions, and Politics," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 1-21, December.
    10. Alexander Reisz, 1999. "Temporal Resolution of Uncertainty, the Investment Policy of Levered Firms and Corporate Debt Yields," New York University, Leonard N. Stern School Finance Department Working Paper Seires 99-044, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business-.
    11. Dan Bogart, 2016. "The East Indian Monopoly and the Transition from Limited Access in England, 1600–1813," NBER Chapters, in: Organizations, Civil Society, and the Roots of Development, pages 23-49, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Lim, Terence & Lo, Andrew W. & Merton, Robert C. & Scholes, Myron S., 2006. "The Derivatives Sourcebook," Foundations and Trends(R) in Finance, now publishers, vol. 1(5–6), pages 365-572, April.
    13. Engelbert J. Dockner & Helmut Elsinger & Andrea Gaunersdorfer, 2018. "The Strategic Role of Dividends and Debt in Markets with Imperfect Competition," Dynamic Games and Applications, Springer, vol. 8(3), pages 601-619, September.
    14. Christopher Noke, 2000. "No value in par: a history of the no par value debate in the United Kingdom," Accounting History Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(1), pages 13-36.
    15. Whelan, Shane, 2007. "Valuing Ireland's Pension System," Quarterly Economic Commentary: Special Articles, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), vol. 2007(2-Summer), pages 55-80.
    16. Indro, Daniel C. & Leach, Robert T. & Lee, Wayne Y., 1999. "Sources of gains to shareholders from bankruptcy resolution," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 21-47, January.
    17. Matthew J. Clayton & S. Abraham Ravid, 1999. "The Effect of Leverage on Bidding Behavior: Theory and Evidence from the FCC Auctions," New York University, Leonard N. Stern School Finance Department Working Paper Seires 99-055, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business-.
    18. Ciliberto, Federico & Schenone, Carola, 2012. "Bankruptcy and product-market competition: Evidence from the airline industry," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 564-577.
    19. Gregory Price & Warren Whatley, 2021. "Did profitable slave trading enable the expansion of empire?: The Asiento de Negros, the South Sea Company and the financial revolution in Great Britain," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 15(3), pages 675-718, September.
    20. Frehen, Rik G.P. & Goetzmann, William N. & Geert Rouwenhorst, K., 2013. "New evidence on the first financial bubble," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(3), pages 585-607.

    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:kap:rqfnac:v:25:y:2005:i:3:p:215-231. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://springer.com .

    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.