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Price Discrimination in Oligopoly: Evidence from Swedish Newspapers

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  • Asplund, Björn Marcus
  • Eriksson, Rickard
  • Strand, Niklas

Abstract

This Paper provides an empirical examination of third-degree price discrimination in the Swedish newspaper industry. The results show that price discrimination is more prevalent in competitive markets and among newspapers with low market shares. This supports predictions from recent theoretical work, including Chen (1997) and Fudenberg and Tirole (2000), that suggest that firms attempt to poach consumers from rivals by offering targeted discounts. In addition, we find weak evidence that newspapers in markets with large inflows of new consumers and those covering wide geographical areas offer more discounts.

Suggested Citation

  • Asplund, Björn Marcus & Eriksson, Rickard & Strand, Niklas, 2002. "Price Discrimination in Oligopoly: Evidence from Swedish Newspapers," CEPR Discussion Papers 3269, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:3269
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    13. Yongmin Chen, 1997. "Paying Customers to Switch," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(4), pages 877-897, December.
    14. Borenstein, Severin & Rose, Nancy L, 1994. "Competition and Price Dispersion in the U.S. Airline Industry," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(4), pages 653-683, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Takanori Adachi & Noriaki Matsushima, 2014. "The Welfare Effects Of Third-Degree Price Discrimination In A Differentiated Oligopoly," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 52(3), pages 1231-1244, July.
    2. Sarah Guillou & Stefano Schiavo, 2010. "Export Prices and Increasing World Competition: Evidence from French, German, and Italian Pricing Behaviour," Chapters, in: Jean-Luc Gaffard & Evens Salies (ed.), Innovation, Economic Growth and the Firm, chapter 10, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/9708 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/6123 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Mark Armstrong, 2005. "Recent Developments in the Economics of Price Discrimination," Industrial Organization 0511004, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Sarah Guillou & Stefano Schiavo, 2009. "Tarification au marché et variation des marges à l'exportation. Une étude des prix d'exportation allemands, français et italiens," Revue de l'OFCE, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 0(1), pages 165-184.
    7. Gil, Ricard & Riera-Crichton, Daniel & Ruzzier, Christian, 2016. "As Seen on TV: Price Discrimination and Competition in Television Advertising," MPRA Paper 75993, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Asplund, Marcus & Eriksson, Rickard & Strand, Niklas, 2001. "Prices, Margins and Liquidity Constraints: Swedish Newspapers 1990-1996," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 470, Stockholm School of Economics.
    9. Ron Borzekowski & Raphael Thomadsen & Charles Taragin, 2009. "Competition and price discrimination in the market for mailing lists," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 7(2), pages 147-179, June.
    10. Nikolaos Zevgolis & Panagiotis Fotis, 2014. "Prohibition of parallel imports as a vertical restraint: per se approach or a misunderstanding?," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 317-342, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Price discrimination; Oligopoly; Newspapers;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media

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