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Economic Literature on Price Discrimination and its Application to the Uniform Pricing of Gasoline

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  • James Langenfeld
  • Wenqing Li
  • George Schink

Abstract

This article summarizes much of the literature on price discrimination, discussing the alterative approaches and the general conclusions on price discrimination's impact on output, prices, and welfare. It applies lessons from the literature to a specific proposal that would eliminate arbitrage in California wholesales gasoline markets, and in effect prevent some forms of price discrimination. It concludes that applying extensions of the existing models to industry data is very important for gaining a better understanding of the implications price discrimination, and the current debate on price dispersion would benefit from such research.

Suggested Citation

  • James Langenfeld & Wenqing Li & George Schink, 2003. "Economic Literature on Price Discrimination and its Application to the Uniform Pricing of Gasoline," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 179-193.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ijecbs:v:10:y:2003:i:2:p:179-193
    DOI: 10.1080/13571510305065
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kenneth S. Corts, 1998. "Third-Degree Price Discrimination in Oligopoly: All-Out Competition and Strategic Commitment," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 29(2), pages 306-323, Summer.
    2. William Comanor & Jon Riddle, 2003. "The Costs of Regulation: Branded Open Supply and Uniform Pricing of Gasoline," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 135-155.
    3. Schmalensee, Richard, 1981. "Output and Welfare Implications of Monopolistic Third-Degree Price Discrimination," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(1), pages 242-247, March.
    4. Katz, Michael L, 1987. "The Welfare Effects of Third-Degree Price Discrimination in," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(1), pages 154-167, March.
    5. Schwartz, Marius, 1990. "Third-Degree Price Discrimination and Output: Generalizing a Welfare Result," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(5), pages 1259-1262, December.
    6. Holmes, Thomas J, 1989. "The Effects of Third-Degree Price Discrimination in Oligopoly," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(1), pages 244-250, March.
    7. Varian, Hal R, 1985. "Price Discrimination and Social Welfare," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(4), pages 870-875, September.
    8. O'Brien, Daniel P & Shaffer, Greg, 1994. "The Welfare Effects of Forbidding Discriminatory Discounts: A Secondary Line Analysis of Robinson-Patman," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 10(2), pages 296-318, October.
    9. Yoshihiro Yoshida, 2000. "Third-Degree Price Discrimination in Input Markets: Output and Welfare," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(1), pages 240-246, March.
    10. Nahata, Babu & Ostaszewski, Krzysztof & Sahoo, P K, 1990. "Direction of Price Changes in Third-Degree Price Discrimination," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(5), pages 1254-1258, December.
    11. DeGraba, Patrick, 1990. "Input Market Price Discrimination and the Choice of Technology," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(5), pages 1246-1253, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ku, Cheng-Yuan & Chang, Yi-Wen, 2012. "Optimal production and selling policies with fixed-price contracts and contingent-price offers," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(1), pages 94-101.

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