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Competing with Menus of Tariff Options

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  • Miravete, Eugenio

Abstract

I study how firms actually compete in nonlinear tariffs by analyzing whether the incumbent and entrant's decisions to offer a given number of tariff options are interrelated. The goal is to shed some light on those dynamic and strategic aspects of tariff menus that are currently ignored by theoretical models of nonlinear pricing competition in order to highlight some basic features of the market that future theoretical work should address. This paper also introduces a generalized multivariate count data model that allows me to account for the possibility of correlation of any sign among the pricing decisions of competing firms in a manner that is robust to the existence of over and underdispersion of counts. Pricing strategies appear to be strategic complements that respond positively to the existing heterogeneity of consumers' tastes. While this is a common source driving the number of tariff options offered, results also show that previous pricing decisions by the incumbent affect the entrant's current offering of tariff options, thus implying free riding by the entrant on information about the market revealed by the likely better informed firm of the industry. The strategic complementarity result disappears when I only consider non-dominated tariffs.

Suggested Citation

  • Miravete, Eugenio, 2007. "Competing with Menus of Tariff Options," CEPR Discussion Papers 6279, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6279
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    Cited by:

    1. Zucchini, Leon & Kretschmer, Tobias, 2011. "Competitive Pressure: Competitive Dynamics as Reactions to Multiple Rivals," Discussion Papers in Business Administration 12308, University of Munich, Munich School of Management.
    2. repec:vuw:vuwscr:19071 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Bonatti, Alessandro, 2011. "Brand-specific tastes for quality," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 562-575, September.
    4. Pau Olivella & Marcos Vera-Hernandez, 2010. "How complex are the contracts offered by health plans?," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 1(3), pages 305-323, July.
    5. Miravete, Eugenio, 2007. "The Limited Gains From Complex Tariffs," Working Paper Series 3971, Victoria University of Wellington, The New Zealand Institute for the Study of Competition and Regulation.
    6. Miravete, Eugenio J. & Pernías, José C., 2010. "Testing for complementarity when strategies are dichotomous," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 106(1), pages 28-31, January.
    7. Tingting He & Dmitri Kuksov & Chakravarthi Narasimhan, 2017. "Free in-network pricing as an entry-deterrence strategy," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 279-303, September.
    8. Christos Genakos & Tobias Kretschmer & Ambre Nicolle, 2021. "Strategic confusopoly: evidence from the UK mobile market," CEP Discussion Papers dp1810, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    9. Miravete, Eugenio, 2007. "The Limited Gains From Complex Tariffs," Working Paper Series 19071, Victoria University of Wellington, The New Zealand Institute for the Study of Competition and Regulation.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bivariate count data regression; Nonlinear pricing competition; Strategic complementarity; Tariff menus;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C35 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions
    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • M21 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Economics - - - Business Economics

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