IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/h/spr/topchp/978-3-030-02937-1_12.html
   My bibliography  Save this book chapter

Vertical Integration in the E-Commerce Sector

In: New Business and Regulatory Strategies in the Postal Sector

Author

Listed:
  • Claire Borsenberger

    (Groupe La Poste)

  • Helmuth Cremer

    (Toulouse School of Economics, University of Toulouse Capitole)

  • Denis Joram

    (Groupe La Poste)

  • Jean-Marie Lozachmeur

    (Toulouse School of Economics, CNRS, University of Toulouse Capitole)

Abstract

We study vertical integration of a retailer and an operator in the e-commerce sector. Its impact on consumers involves a tradeoff between competition and double marginalization. The competition effect dominates when the number of independent retailers and operators is sufficiently large. Even when integration of a single retailer-delivery operator pair is initially welfare improving, the resulting market structure may not be sustainable and result in an integrated monopoly that is welfare inferior to the initial independent equilibrium. Multiple integration is typically welfare superior to the integration of a single retailer-delivery operator pair. Integration is more likely to have an adverse effect on welfare when the integrated firm delivers only to rural customers.

Suggested Citation

  • Claire Borsenberger & Helmuth Cremer & Denis Joram & Jean-Marie Lozachmeur, 2018. "Vertical Integration in the E-Commerce Sector," Topics in Regulatory Economics and Policy, in: Pier Luigi Parcu & Timothy J. Brennan & Victor Glass (ed.), New Business and Regulatory Strategies in the Postal Sector, pages 143-160, Springer.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:topchp:978-3-030-02937-1_12
    DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-02937-1_12
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Motta,Massimo, 2004. "Competition Policy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521016919, September.
    2. Rey, Patrick & Tirole, Jean, 2007. "A Primer on Foreclosure," Handbook of Industrial Organization, in: Mark Armstrong & Robert Porter (ed.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 33, pages 2145-2220, Elsevier.
    3. Oecd, 2004. "Competition Policy in Subsidies and State Aid," OECD Journal: Competition Law and Policy, OECD Publishing, vol. 6(1), pages 109-173.
    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. Claire Borsenberger & Helmuth Cremer & Denis Joram & Jean-Marie Lozachmeur & Estelle Malavolti, 2022. "Data and the Regulation of E-commerce: Data Sharing vs. Dismantling," Topics in Regulatory Economics and Policy, in: Pier Luigi Parcu & Timothy J. Brennan & Victor Glass (ed.), The Economics of the Postal and Delivery Sector, pages 49-66, Springer.
    2. Claire Borsenberger & Helmuth Cremer & Denis Joram & Jean-Marie Lozachmeur & Estelle Malavolti, 2020. "Platform Competition: Market Structure and Pricing," Topics in Regulatory Economics and Policy, in: Pier Luigi Parcu & Timothy J. Brennan & Victor Glass (ed.), The Changing Postal Environment, pages 225-240, Springer.

    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. Zanchettin, Piercarlo & Mukherjee, Arijit, 2017. "Vertical integration and product differentiation," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 25-57.
    2. Kaplow, Louis & Shapiro, Carl, 2007. "Antitrust," Handbook of Law and Economics, in: A. Mitchell Polinsky & Steven Shavell (ed.), Handbook of Law and Economics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 15, pages 1073-1225, Elsevier.
    3. Alessandro D. SCOPELLITI, 2010. "Competition And Economic Growth: A Critical Survey Of The Theoretical Literature," Journal of Applied Economic Sciences, Spiru Haret University, Faculty of Financial Management and Accounting Craiova, vol. 5(1(11)_Spr), pages 70-93.
    4. Klaus Abbink & Jordi Brandts, 2005. "Collusion in Growing and Shrinking Markets: Empirical Evidence from Experimental Duopolies," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 648.05, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC).
    5. Lionel Janin & Benoît Menoni, 2007. "L e contrôle des concentrations en France : une analyse empirique des avis du Conseil de la concurrence," Economie & Prévision, La Documentation Française, vol. 0(2), pages 93-114.
    6. Hollander, Claude & Hollander, Abraham, 2006. "Triple Play Time," MPRA Paper 3552, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Christos Genakos & Pantelis Koutroumpis & Mario Pagliero, 2018. "The Impact of Maximum Markup Regulation on Prices," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(2), pages 239-300, June.
    8. Kodera Toshiki, 2015. "Discriminatory Pricing and Spatial Competition in Two-Sided Media Markets," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 15(2), pages 891-926, April.
    9. repec:dpr:wpaper:0878 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Motta, Massimo & Tarantino, Emanuele, 2021. "The effect of horizontal mergers, when firms compete in prices and investments," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    11. Dongyeol Lee, 2015. "The Competitive Effect of Exclusive Dealing in the Presence of Renegotiation Breakdown," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 47(1), pages 25-50, August.
    12. John Vickers, 2007. "Some Economics of Abuse of Dominance," Economics Series Working Papers 376, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    13. Kind, Hans Jarle & Nilssen, Tore & Sørgard, Lars, 2016. "Inter-firm price coordination in a two-sided market," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 101-112.
    14. Marie-Laure Allain & Emeric Henry & Margaret Kyle, 2016. "Competition and the Efficiency of Markets for Technology," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 62(4), pages 1000-1019, April.
    15. Alejandro Robinson Cortés, 2013. "Eficiencia Interna y Competencia de Mercado en Oligopolio," Undergraduate theses (Spanish) tesl001, CIDE, División de Economía.
    16. Ghosal Vivek, 2011. "The Law and Economics of Enhancing Cartel Enforcement: Using Information From Non-Cartel Investigations to Prosecute Cartels," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 7(2), pages 501-538, December.
    17. International Finance Corporation, 2014. "Ukraine : Opportunities and Challenges for Private Sector Development," World Bank Publications - Reports 16711, The World Bank Group.
    18. Hans Jarle Kind & Tore Nilssen & Lars Sørgard, 2010. "Price Coordination in Two-Sided Markets: Competition in the TV Industry," CESifo Working Paper Series 3004, CESifo.
    19. Argenton, Cédric & Willems, Bert, 2015. "Exclusion through speculation," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 1-9.
    20. Marianao Selvaggi & Luis Vasconcelos, 2006. "Star Wars: exclusive superstars and collusive outcomes," Nova SBE Working Paper Series wp496, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Nova School of Business and Economics.
    21. Mark Armstrong, 2005. "Recent Developments in the Economics of Price Discrimination," Industrial Organization 0511004, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • L42 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Vertical Restraints; Resale Price Maintenance; Quantity Discounts
    • L81 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce
    • L87 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Postal and Delivery Services

    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:spr:topchp:978-3-030-02937-1_12. 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://www.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.