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Affiliation, Integration, and Information: Ownership Incentives and Industry Structure

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  • Thomas N. Hubbard

Abstract

This paper presents theory and evidence on horizontal industry structure, focusing on situations where plant-level scale economies are small and market power is not an issue. At issue is the question: what makes industries necessarily fragmented? The theoretical model distinguishes between the structure of brands and firms in an industry by examining trade-offs associated with affiliation and integration, and how they are affected by the contracting environment. I show how contractual incompleteness can lead industries to be necessarily fragmented. I also show that improvements in the contracting environment will tend to lead to a greater concentration of brands, but whether they lead industries to be more or less concentrated depends on what becomes contractible. I then discuss the propositions generated by the model through a series of case study examples.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas N. Hubbard, 2001. "Affiliation, Integration, and Information: Ownership Incentives and Industry Structure," NBER Working Papers 8300, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:8300
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure

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