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Making Friends with Your Neighbors? Agglomeration and Tacit Collusion in The Lodging Industry

Author

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  • Li Gan

    (Texas A&M University and NBER)

  • Manuel A. Hernandez

    (IFPRI)

Abstract

Agglomeration is a location pattern frequently observed in service industries such as hotels. This paper empirically examines whether agglomeration facilitates tacit collusion in the lodging industry using a quarterly data set of hotels in Texas. We jointly model a price and occupancy rate equation under a switching regression model to identify a collusive and noncollusive regime. The estimation results indicate that clustered hotels have a higher probability of being in the potential collusive regime than isolated properties in the same town. The identification of a collusive regime is also consistent with other factors considered to affect the sustainability of tacit collusion. © 2013 The President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Li Gan & Manuel A. Hernandez, 2013. "Making Friends with Your Neighbors? Agglomeration and Tacit Collusion in The Lodging Industry," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(3), pages 1002-1017, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:95:y:2013:i:3:p:1002-1017
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    7. Juan L Eugenio-Martin & José M Cazorla-Artiles & Christian González-Martel, 2019. "On the determinants of Airbnb location and its spatial distribution," Tourism Economics, , vol. 25(8), pages 1224-1244, December.
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    9. Escobari, Diego & Serrano, Alejandro, 2015. "Reducing Asymmetric Information in Venture Capital Backed IPOs," MPRA Paper 68140, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Martin Falk & Eva Hagsten, 2014. "Output growth and prices of establishments in the Swedish lodging industry," ERSA conference papers ersa14p360, European Regional Science Association.
    11. Alemayehu, Fikru K. & Kumbhakar, Subal C. & Landazuri Tveteraas, Sigbjørn, 2022. "Estimation of staff use efficiency: Evidence from the hospitality industry," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
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    14. Beta Septi Iryani & Muhammad Halley Yudhistira & Khoirunurrofik Khoirunurrofik & Djoni Hartono, 2024. "Conformity or differentiation? The effect of competitive strategy on hotel performance," Tourism Economics, , vol. 30(2), pages 522-538, March.
    15. Wyatt J. Brooks & Joseph P. Kaboski & Yao Amber Li, 2016. "Growth Policy, Agglomeration, and (the Lack of) Competition," NBER Working Papers 22947, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    17. Roberto Gabriele, & Enrico Tundis, & Enrico Zaninotto, 2015. "Public Subsidies and Development of Hotel Industry: Evidence from a Place-based Policy," DEM Discussion Papers 2015/10, Department of Economics and Management.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    collusion; agglomeration; lodging industry; switching regression model;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L4 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies
    • C3 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables

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