IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/mgtdec/v45y2024i6p3972-3992.html

Market configurations when marginal costs are quality‐dependent

Author

Listed:
  • Cesaltina Pacheco Pires
  • Sílvia Ferreira Jorge
  • Margarida Catalão‐Lopes
  • Joana Pinho
  • Pedro Garcês
  • Adriana Alventosa

Abstract

Most quality‐then‐price decision models under vertical product differentiation consider a predetermined market configuration. We endogenize market configuration considering quality‐dependent marginal costs and conclude that a strictly interior full coverage duopoly holds for some parameter values, unveiling the relevance of this commonly assumed market structure. Moreover, we show that a monopoly never arises in equilibrium, and (i) there are multiple equilibria at the frontier between interior and corner full coverage duopoly, (ii) the market is fully (partially) covered when relative tastes' heterogeneity is low (high), and (iii) there is a discontinuity in the transition from partial coverage to full coverage duopoly.

Suggested Citation

  • Cesaltina Pacheco Pires & Sílvia Ferreira Jorge & Margarida Catalão‐Lopes & Joana Pinho & Pedro Garcês & Adriana Alventosa, 2024. "Market configurations when marginal costs are quality‐dependent," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 45(6), pages 3972-3992, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:mgtdec:v:45:y:2024:i:6:p:3972-3992
    DOI: 10.1002/mde.4216
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/mde.4216
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/mde.4216?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. Jean Tirole, 1988. "The Theory of Industrial Organization," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262200716, December.
    2. Yong-Hwan Noh & Giancarlo Moschini, 2006. "Vertical Product Differentiation, Entry-Deterrence Strategies, and Entry Qualities," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 29(3), pages 227-252, November.
    3. Choi, Chong Ju & Shin, Hyun Song, 1992. "A Comment on a Model of Vertical Product Differentiation," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 229-231, June.
    4. Wauthy, Xavier, 1996. "Quality Choice in Models of Vertical Differentiation," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(3), pages 345-353, September.
    5. Avner Shaked & John Sutton, 1982. "Relaxing Price Competition Through Product Differentiation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 49(1), pages 3-13.
    6. Lambertini, Luca & Tampieri, Alessandro, 2012. "Do minimum quality standards bite in polluting industries?," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(2), pages 184-194.
    7. Mussa, Michael & Rosen, Sherwin, 1978. "Monopoly and product quality," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 301-317, August.
    8. Jaskold Gabszewicz, J. & Thisse, J. -F., 1979. "Price competition, quality and income disparities," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 340-359, June.
    9. Crampes, Claude & Hollander, Abraham, 1995. "Duopoly and quality standards," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 71-82, January.
    10. Miao, Zhuang, 2019. "Income Distribution, Vertical Differentiation, and the Quantity Competition," MPRA Paper 95104, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Stefan Lutz, 1997. "Vertical product differentiation and entry deterrence," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 65(1), pages 79-102, February.
    12. A. Mantovani & O. Tarola & C. Vergari, 2015. "Hedonic Quality and Social Norms: a hybrid model of product differentiation," Working Papers wp1029, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    13. Motta, Massimo, 1993. "Endogenous Quality Choice: Price vs. Quantity Competition," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(2), pages 113-131, June.
    14. Corrado Benassi & Alessandra Chirco & Caterina Colombo, 2006. "Vertical Differentiation And The Distribution Of Income," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(4), pages 345-367, October.
    15. K. Sridhar Moorthy, 1988. "Product and Price Competition in a Duopoly," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(2), pages 141-168.
    16. Robert Schmidt, 2006. "On the Robustness of the High-Quality Advantage under Vertical Differentiation," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 6(3), pages 183-193, December.
    17. Marc St‐Pierre & Aaron A. Elrod, 2022. "The perverse effect of environmental regulation on emissions: The role of product‐mix changes," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 24(1), pages 197-235, February.
    18. Luca Lambertini & Piero Tedeschi, 2007. "On the Social Desirability of Patents for Sequential Innovations in a Vertically Differentiated Market," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 90(2), pages 193-214, March.
    19. Kuhn, Michael, 2007. "Minimum quality standards and market dominance in vertically differentiated duopoly," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 275-290, April.
    20. Aurora García‐Gallego & Nikolaos Georgantzís, 2009. "Market Effects of Changes in Consumers' Social Responsibility," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 235-262, March.
    21. Garella, Paolo G. & Lambertini, Luca, 2014. "Bidimensional vertical differentiation," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 1-10.
    22. Alventosa, Adriana & Pacheco Pires, Cesaltina & Ferreira Jorge, Sílvia & Pinho, Joana & Catalão-Lopes, Margarida, 2023. "How does firms’ cost structure affect their quality–price mix? An experimental analysis," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    23. Lambertini, Luca, 1996. "Choosing Roles in a Duopoly for Endogenously Differentiated Products," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(67), pages 205-224, December.
    24. Barigozzi, Francesca & Ma, Ching-to Albert, 2018. "Product differentiation with multiple qualities," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 380-412.
    25. Pei‐Cheng Liao, 2008. "A Note On Market Coverage In Vertical Differentiation Models With Fixed Costs," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 27-44, January.
    26. Chester Chambers & Panos Kouvelis & John Semple, 2006. "Quality-Based Competition, Profitability, and Variable Costs," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(12), pages 1884-1895, December.
    27. Lambertini, Luca, 1999. "Endogenous timing and the choice of quality in a vertically differentiated duopoly," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 101-109, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Alventosa, Adriana & Pacheco Pires, Cesaltina & Ferreira Jorge, Sílvia & Pinho, Joana & Catalão-Lopes, Margarida, 2023. "How does firms’ cost structure affect their quality–price mix? An experimental analysis," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    2. Pires, Cesaltina Pacheco & Catalão-Lopes, Margarida & Jorge, Sílvia Ferreira & Garcês, Pedro, 2024. "Quality-price choices and market configurations when location matters," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    3. Ya‐chin Wang & Leonard F.s. Wang, 2009. "Equivalence Of Competition Mode In A Vertically Differentiated Duopoly With Delegation," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 77(4), pages 577-590, December.
    4. Buehler, Benno & Schuett, Florian, 2014. "Certification and minimum quality standards when some consumers are uninformed," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 493-511.
    5. Pei‐Cheng Liao, 2008. "A Note On Market Coverage In Vertical Differentiation Models With Fixed Costs," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 27-44, January.
    6. Onur A. Koska, 2020. "Sourcing product quality for foreign market entry," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 156(3), pages 669-702, August.
    7. Peter-J. Jost, 2023. "Price commitment and the strategic launch of a fighter brand," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 381-435, September.
    8. Yong-Hwan Noh & Giancarlo Moschini, 2006. "Vertical Product Differentiation, Entry-Deterrence Strategies, and Entry Qualities," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 29(3), pages 227-252, November.
    9. Li, Youping, 2014. "Price leadership in a vertically differentiated market," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 67-70.
    10. Yoshinari Miyamoto, 2021. "Strategic outsourcing and quality choice: Is a vertical integration model sustainable?," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(5), pages 1332-1351, July.
    11. Yi-Ling Cheng & Shin-Kun Peng, 2014. "Price competition and quality differentiation with multiproduct firms," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 112(3), pages 207-223, July.
    12. Corrado Benassi & Alessandra Chirco & Caterina Colombo, 2019. "Vertical differentiation beyond the uniform distribution," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 126(3), pages 221-248, April.
    13. Luigi Filippini, 1999. "Leapfrogging in a Vertical Product Differentiation Model," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(2), pages 245-256.
    14. Gregory S. Amacher & Erkki Koskela & Markku Ollikainen, 2005. "Quality Competition and Social Welfare in Markets with Partial Coverage: New Results," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(4), pages 391-405, October.
    15. Stefan Napel & Gunnar Oldehaver, 2011. "A dynamic perspective on minimum quality standards under Cournot competition," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 29-49, February.
    16. Stefan Napel & Gunnar Oldehaver, 2007. "Static Costs vs. Dynamic Benefits of a Minimum Quality Standard under Cournot Competition," Discussion Papers 23, Aboa Centre for Economics.
    17. Sai Zhao & Lei Fang, 2023. "Debt financing, first‐mover advantage, and vertical product differentiation," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 44(1), pages 502-514, January.
    18. Yi-Ling Cheng & Shin-Kun Peng, 2012. "Quality and Quantity Competition in a Multiproduct Duopoly," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 79(1), pages 180-202, July.
    19. Ornella Tarola & Cecilia Vergari, 2024. "Endogenous subsidies for cleaner products: The role of ecofriendly consumers," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 26(2), February.
    20. José Luis Moraga Gonzales & Jean-Marie Viaene, 2001. "Procompetitive Trade Policies," CESifo Working Paper Series 597, CESifo.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:wly:mgtdec:v:45:y:2024:i:6:p:3972-3992. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/7976 .

    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.