IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/bon/boncrc/crctr224_2025_678v2.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Dual Pricing in a Model of Sales

Author

Listed:
  • Nicolas Schutz

  • Anton Sobolev

Abstract

We study the competitve effects of dual pricing, a vertical restraint that involves charging a distributor different prices for units intended to be resold online versus offline. We develop a model in which a manufacturer contracts with hybrid retailers selling both in-store and online. We find that, by eliminating wasteful price dispersion, dual pricing allows the manufacturer to induce the industry monopoly outcome, whereas uniform pricing does not. Despite this, a ban on dual pricing has negative welfare effects if the online market is small, if the offline consumers' search costs are high, and if the monopoly pass-through is high.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicolas Schutz & Anton Sobolev, 2025. "Dual Pricing in a Model of Sales," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2025_678v2, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany, revised Jun 2025.
    • Handle: RePEc:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2025_678v2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.crctr224.de/research/discussion-papers/archive/dp678
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dmitry Lubensky, 2017. "A model of recommended retail prices," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 48(2), pages 358-386, May.
    2. Alberto Cavallo, 2017. "Are Online and Offline Prices Similar? Evidence from Large Multi-channel Retailers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(1), pages 283-303, January.
    3. Joao Montez & Nicolas Schutz, 2021. "All-Pay Oligopolies: Price Competition with Unobservable Inventory Choices [Extremal Equilibria of Oligopolistic Supergames]," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 88(5), pages 2407-2438.
    4. David Genesove & Wallace P. Mullin, 1998. "Testing Static Oligopoly Models: Conduct and Cost in the Sugar Industry, 1890-1914," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 29(2), pages 355-377, Summer.
    5. Sandro Shelegia & Chris M. Wilson, 2021. "A Generalized Model of Advertised Sales," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 195-223, February.
    6. G.F. Mathewson & R.A. Winter, 1984. "An Economic Theory of Vertical Restraints," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 15(1), pages 27-38, Spring.
    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. repec:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2025_678 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. De los Santos, Babur & Kim, In Kyung & Lubensky, Dmitry, 2018. "Do MSRPs decrease prices?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 429-457.
      • Babur De los Santos & In Kyung Kim & Dmitry Lubensky, 2013. "Do MSRPs Decrease Prices?," Working Papers 2013-13, Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, Department of Business Economics and Public Policy.
    3. Herweg, Fabian & Helfrich, Magdalena, 2017. "Salience in Retailing: Vertical Restraints on Internet Sales," CEPR Discussion Papers 11948, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Helfrich, Magdalena & Herweg, Fabian, 2020. "Context-dependent preferences and retailing: Vertical restraints on internet sales," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    5. Hovhannisyan, Vardges & Stiegert, Kyle W. & Bozic, Marin, 2013. "On Endogeneity Of Retail Market Power In An Equilibrium Analysis: A Control Function Approach," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 149830, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    6. Çakır, Metin & Nolan, James, 2015. "Revisiting Concentration in Food and Agricultural Supply Chains: The Welfare Implications of Market Power in a Complementary Input Sector," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 40(2), pages 1-17, May.
    7. Suguru Otani, 2024. "Industry Dynamics with Cartels: The Case of the Container Shipping Industry," Discussion Paper Series DP2024-28, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University.
    8. Neslin, Scott A., 2022. "The omnichannel continuum: Integrating online and offline channels along the customer journey," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 98(1), pages 111-132.
    9. Barrie R. Nault & Rajeev K. Tyagi, 2001. "Implementable Mechanisms to Coordinate Horizontal Alliances," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(6), pages 787-799, June.
    10. Mansur, Erin T, 2007. "Upstream Competition and Vertical Integration in Electricity Markets," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 50(1), pages 125-156, February.
    11. Michiel van Leuvensteijn & Christoffer Kok Sørensen & Jacob A. Bikker & Adrian A.R.J.M. van Rixtel, 2013. "Impact of bank competition on the interest rate pass-through in the euro area," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(11), pages 1359-1380, April.
    12. Alberto Cavallo & Robert C. Feenstra & Robert Inklaar, 2023. "Product Variety, the Cost of Living, and Welfare across Countries," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 15(4), pages 40-66, October.
    13. Frederik von Waldow & Heike Link, 2024. "Spatial Competition and Pass-through of Fuel Taxes: Evidence from a Quasi-natural Experiment in Germany," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 2086, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    14. David Bouras & Troy Frank & Eric Burgess, 2017. "Functional Forms and Oligopolistic Models: An Empirical Analysis," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 7(4), pages 645-649.
    15. Foros, Øystein & Kind, Hans Jarle & Shaffer, Greg, 2011. "Resale price maintenance and restrictions on dominant firm and industry-wide adoption," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 179-186, March.
    16. Christos Genakos & Mario Pagliero, 2022. "Competition and Pass-Through: Evidence from Isolated Markets," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 35-57, October.
    17. Dmitry Lubensky, 2017. "A model of recommended retail prices," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 48(2), pages 358-386, May.
    18. José Anson & Mauro Boffa, 2018. "Consumer Arbitrage in Cross-Border E-commerce," RSCAS Working Papers 2018/17, European University Institute.
    19. Xiangyi Zhou & Zheng Pei & Botao Qin, 2021. "Assessing Market Competition in the Chinese Banking Industry Based on a Conjectural Variation Model," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 29(2), pages 73-98, March.
    20. Takanori Adachi & Michal Fabinger, 2017. "Multi-Dimensional Pass-Through, Incidence, and the Welfare Burden of Taxation in Oligopoly," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1040, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    21. David Martimort & Jérôme Pouyet, 2024. "Promotional Allowances: Loss Leading as an Incentive Device," Working Papers hal-04758824, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L42 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Vertical Restraints; Resale Price Maintenance; Quantity Discounts
    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:bon:boncrc:crctr224_2025_678v2. 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: CRC Office (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.crctr224.de .

    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.