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Profitable Horizontal Mergers without Cost Advantages: The Role of Internal Organization, Information, and Market Structure

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  • Steffen Huck
  • Kai A. Konrad
  • Wieland Müller

Abstract

Merged firms are typically rather complex organizations. Accordingly, merger has a more profound effect on the structure of a market than simply reducing the number of competitors. We show that this may render horizontal mergers profitable and welfare-improving even if costs are linear. The driving force behind these results, which help to reconcile theory with various empirical findings, is the assumption that information about output decisions flows more freely within a merged firm.

Suggested Citation

  • Steffen Huck & Kai A. Konrad & Wieland Müller, 2001. "Profitable Horizontal Mergers without Cost Advantages: The Role of Internal Organization, Information, and Market Structure," CESifo Working Paper Series 435, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_435
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    Cited by:

    1. Vettas, Nikolaos & Kotseva, Rossitsa & Christou, Charalambos, 2007. "Pricing, Investments and Mergers with Intertemporal Capacity Constraints," CEPR Discussion Papers 6433, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Emilie Dargaud & Armel Jacques, 2015. "Hidden collusion by decentralization: firm organization and antitrust policy," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 153-176, March.
    3. Qiu, Hong & Zhu, Nan & Peng, Qiyuan, 2021. "Can a small fish become a big fish? Modeling leader-generating mergers in a Stackelberg market," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    4. Kai A.Konrad, 2010. "Merger Profitability in Industries with Brand Portfolios and Loyal Customers," Korean Economic Review, Korean Economic Association, vol. 26, pages 5-26.
    5. Artz, Benjamin & Heywood, John S. & McGinty, Matthew, 2009. "The merger paradox in a mixed oligopoly," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 1-10, March.
    6. Thomas Giebe & Miyu Lee, 2020. "Competitors in merger control: Shall they be merely heard or also listened to?," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 49(3), pages 431-453, June.
    7. Fan, Cuihong & Wolfstetter, Elmar G., 2015. "The merger-paradox: A tournament-based solution," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 35-38.
    8. Brito Duarte & Catalão-Lopes Margarida, 2011. "Small Fish Become Big Fish: Mergers in Stackelberg Markets Revisited," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 11(1), pages 1-20, May.
    9. Kjell Erik Lommerud & Odd Rune Straume & Lars Sørgard & Odd Rune Straume, 2002. "Downstream Merger with Oligopolistic Input Suppliers," CESifo Working Paper Series 733, CESifo.
    10. Rasch, Alexander & Wambach, Achim, 2009. "Internal decision-making rules and collusion," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 703-715, November.
    11. John S. Heywood & Matthew McGinty, 2008. "Leading and Merging: Convex Costs, Stackelberg, and the Merger Paradox," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 74(3), pages 879-893, January.
    12. Mahelet G. Fikru & Luis Gautier, 2017. "Environmental taxation and mergers in oligopoly markets with product differentiation," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 122(1), pages 45-65, September.
    13. Duarte Brito & Margarida Catalão‐Lopes, 2019. "Are Larger Merger Synergies Bad News for Consumers? Endogenous Post‐Merger Internal Organization," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 121(4), pages 1728-1756, October.
    14. Margarida Catalão-Lopes & Duarte Brito, 2021. "Post-merger internal organization in multitier decentralized supply chains," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 132(3), pages 251-289, April.
    15. BOCCARD, Nicolas, 2009. "On efficiency, concentration and welfare," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2009040, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    16. Jeddy, Mohamed & Larue, Bruno, 2012. "Mergers, concurrent marketing mechanisms and the performance of sequential auctions," Working Papers 126945, Structure and Performance of Agriculture and Agri-products Industry (SPAA).
    17. José Méndez-Naya, 2008. "Merger profitability in mixed oligopoly," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 94(2), pages 167-176, July.
    18. Fikru, Mahelet G. & Gautier, Luis, 2016. "Mergers in Cournot markets with environmental externality and product differentiation," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 65-79.
    19. Yim, Hyung Rok, 2008. "Quality shock vs. market shock: Lessons from recently established rapidly growing U.S. startups," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 141-164, March.
    20. José Méndez Naya, 2007. "Privatización y fusiones en oligopolios mixtos," Estudios de Economia, University of Chile, Department of Economics, vol. 34(1 Year 20), pages 37-52, June.
    21. Ziss, Steffen, 2007. "Hierarchies, intra-firm competition and mergers," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 237-260, April.
    22. Walter Ferrarese, 2021. "Merger Waves Through Market Leadership," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 7(3), pages 371-385, November.
    23. Walter Ferrarese, 2020. "When Multiple Merged Entities Lead in Stackelberg Oligopolies," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 56(1), pages 131-142, February.
    24. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:12:y:2007:i:12:p:1-7 is not listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Merger; internal organizational structure; information; timing; market structure;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure
    • L41 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Monopolization; Horizontal Anticompetitive Practices

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