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Price Discrimination in Oligopoly: Evidence from Swedish Newspapers

Author

Listed:
  • Asplund, Marcus

    (Department of Economics, London Business School)

  • Eriksson, Rickard

    (Dept. of Economics, Stockholm School of Economics)

  • Strand, Niklas

    (Dept. of Economics, Stockholm School of Economics)

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), which suggest that firms attempt to poach consumers from rivals by offering targeted discounts. In addition, we find weak evidence of newspapers in markets with large inflows of new consumers and those covering wide geographical areas offering more discounts.

Suggested Citation

  • Asplund, Marcus & Eriksson, Rickard & Strand, Niklas, 2001. "Price Discrimination in Oligopoly: Evidence from Swedish Newspapers," SSE/EFI Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 468, Stockholm School of Economics, revised 01 Jan 2007.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:hastef:0468
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lederer, Phillip J & Hurter, Arthur P, Jr, 1986. "Competition of Firms: Discriminatory Pricing and Location," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 54(3), pages 623-640, May.
    2. Kenneth S. Corts, 1998. "Third-Degree Price Discrimination in Oligopoly: All-Out Competition and Strategic Commitment," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 29(2), pages 306-323, Summer.
    3. Yongmin Chen, 1997. "Paying Customers to Switch," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(4), pages 877-897, December.
    4. Holmes, Thomas J, 1989. "The Effects of Third-Degree Price Discrimination in Oligopoly," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(1), pages 244-250, March.
    5. Tore Nilssen, 1992. "Two Kinds of Consumer Switching Costs," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 23(4), pages 579-589, Winter.
    6. Taylor, Curtis R, 2003. "Supplier Surfing: Competition and Consumer Behavior in Subscription Markets," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 34(2), pages 223-246, Summer.
    7. 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.
    8. Greg Shaffer & Z. John Zhang, 2000. "Pay to Switch or Pay to Stay: Preference‐Based Price Discrimination in Markets with Switching Costs," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(3), pages 397-424, June.
    9. Kathryn Graddy, 1995. "Testing for Imperfect Competition at the Fulton Fish Market," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 26(1), pages 75-92, Spring.
    10. Monica Giulietti, 1999. "Price discrimination in grocery trade: evidence from Italy," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(3), pages 319-329.
    11. Severin Borenstein, 1985. "Price Discrimination in Free-Entry Markets," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 16(3), pages 380-397, Autumn.
    12. Helen F. Ladd, 1998. "Evidence on Discrimination in Mortgage Lending," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 41-62, Spring.
    13. Kathy J. Hayes & Leola B. Ross, 1998. "Is Airline Price Dispersion the Result of Careful Planning or Competitive Forces?," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 13(5), pages 523-541, October.
    14. Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg & Frank Verboven, 2001. "The Evolution of Price Dispersion in the European Car Market," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 68(4), pages 811-848.
    15. Drew Fudenberg & Jean Tirole, 2000. "Customer Poaching and Brand Switching," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 31(4), pages 634-657, Winter.
    16. Varian, Hal R., 1989. "Price discrimination," Handbook of Industrial Organization, in: R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 10, pages 597-654, Elsevier.
    17. Frank Verboven, 1996. "International Price Discrimination in the European Car Market," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 27(2), pages 240-268, Summer.
    18. Lott, John R, Jr & Roberts, Russell D, 1991. "A Guide to the Pitfalls of Identifying Price Discrimination," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 29(1), pages 14-23, January.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/6123 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. 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.
    5. Mark Armstrong, 2005. "Recent Developments in the Economics of Price Discrimination," Industrial Organization 0511004, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/9708 is not listed on IDEAS

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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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