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Kill Zone

Author

Listed:
  • Zingales, Luigi
  • Kamepalli, Sai Krishna
  • Rajan, Raghuram

Abstract

We study why acquisitions of entrant firms by an incumbent can deter innovation and entry in the digital platform industry, where there are strong network externalities and some customers face switching costs. A high probability of an acquisition induces some potential early adopters to wait for the entrant's product to be integrated into the incumbent's product instead of switching to the entrant. Because of this, the incumbent is able to acquire the entrant for a lower price. Even if the incumbent platform does not undertake any traditional anti-competitive action, the reduction in prospective payoffs to entrants creates a “kill zone†in the space of startups, as described by venture capitalists, where entry is hard to finance. The drop-off in venture capital investment in startups in sectors where Facebook and Google make major acquisitions suggests this is more than just a theoretical possibility.

Suggested Citation

  • Zingales, Luigi & Kamepalli, Sai Krishna & Rajan, Raghuram, 2020. "Kill Zone," CEPR Discussion Papers 14709, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:14709
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    Other versions of this item:

    • Kamepalli, Sai Krishna & Rajan, Raghuram G. & Zingales, Luigi, 2020. "Kill Zone," Working Papers 294, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    • Sai Krishna Kamepalli & Raghuram G. Rajan & Luigi Zingales, 2020. "Kill Zone," Working Papers 2020-19, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    • Sai Krishna Kamepalli & Raghuram Rajan & Luigi Zingales, 2020. "Kill Zone," NBER Working Papers 27146, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Katz, Michael L., 2021. "Big Tech mergers: Innovation, competition for the market, and the acquisition of emerging competitors," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    3. Kaplow, Louis, 2021. "Horizontal merger analysis," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    4. Zhijun Chen & Chongwoo Choe & Jiajia Cong & Noriaki Matsushima, 2022. "Data‐driven mergers and personalization," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 53(1), pages 3-31, March.
    5. Tristan Auvray & Cédric Durand & Joel Rabinovich & Cecilia Rikap, 2021. "Corporate financialization’s conservation and transformation: from Mark I to Mark II," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 2(3), pages 431-457, December.
    6. Steffen, Nico & Wiewiorra, Lukas & Kroon, Peter, 2021. "Wettbewerb und Regulierung in der Plattform- und Datenökonomie," WIK Discussion Papers 481, WIK Wissenschaftliches Institut für Infrastruktur und Kommunikationsdienste GmbH.
    7. Geoffrey Parker & Georgios Petropoulos & Marshall Van Alstyne, 2021. "Platform mergers and antitrust [Ex-post assessment of merger control decisions in digital markets]," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 30(5), pages 1307-1336.
    8. Bauer, Johannes M. & Prado, Tiago S., 2020. "Lessons from Innovation Economics for Digital Platform Policy," ITS Conference, Online Event 2020 224846, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Digital platforms; Acquisitions; Kill zone;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • L41 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Monopolization; Horizontal Anticompetitive Practices

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