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Airline strategic alliances in overlapping Markets: Should policymakers be concerned?

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  • Gayle, Philip
  • Brown, Dave

Abstract

When there is significant overlap in potential partner airlines' route networks, policymakers have expressed concern that an alliance between such airlines may facilitate collusion on price and/or service levels in the partners' overlapping markets. The contribution of our paper is to put together a structural econometric model that is able to explicitly disentangle the demand and supply effects associated with an alliance between such airlines. The estimates from our structural econometric model do identify demand-increasing effects associated with the Delta/Continental/Northwest alliance, but statistically reject collusive behavior between the partners.

Suggested Citation

  • Gayle, Philip & Brown, Dave, 2015. "Airline strategic alliances in overlapping Markets: Should policymakers be concerned?," MPRA Paper 62355, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:62355
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    Cited by:

    1. Alderighi, Marco & Gaggero, Alberto A. & Piga, Claudio A., 2015. "The effect of code-share agreements on the temporal profile of airline fares," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 42-54.
    2. Pagoni, Ioanna & Psaraki-Kalouptsidi, Voula, 2016. "The impact of carbon emission fees on passenger demand and air fares: A game theoretic approach," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 41-51.
    3. Yimga, Jules, 2018. "Domestic code-sharing agreements and on-time performance: Evidence from the US airline industry," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 14-27.
    4. Pegah Bahrani & Alireza Arshadi Khamseh, 2020. "Competitive Environment Between Green and Non-green Products Considering Disruption and Alliance Strategy," Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management, Springer;Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management, vol. 21(2), pages 135-161, June.
    5. Gayle, Philip G. & Thomas, Tyson, 2016. "Assessing firm behavior in carve-out markets: Evidence on the impact of carve-out policy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 178-194.
    6. Gerben de Jong & Christiaan Behrens & Hester van Herk & Erik (E.T.) Verhoef, 2018. "Airfares with codeshares: (why) are consumers willing to pay more for products of foreign firms with a domestic partner?," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 18-077/VIII, Tinbergen Institute, revised 28 Feb 2021.
    7. Gayle, Philip G. & Xie, Xin, 2019. "Firms’ markup, cost, and price changes when policymakers permit collusion: Does antitrust immunity matter?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 680-707.
    8. Lin, Ming Hsin, 2021. "Airport pricing and capacity: Schedule versus congestion delays," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    9. Yimga, Jules, 2017. "Airline on-time performance and its effects on consumer choice behavior," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 12-25.
    10. Fageda, Xavier & Flores-Fillol, Ricardo & Lin, Ming Hsin, 2020. "Vertical differentiation and airline alliances: The effect of antitrust immunity," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    11. Gayle Philip G. & Wu Chi-Yin, 2014. "On the Extent to which the Presence of Intermediate-stop(s) Air Travel Products Influences the Pricing of Nonstop Air Travel Products," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 13(3), pages 355-395, September.
    12. Le, Huubinh B. & Yimga, Jules O., 2023. "Codeshare restrictions as antitrust remedy," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 17-24.
    13. Yimga, Jules O., 2017. "Airline code-sharing and its effects on on-time performance," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 76-90.
    14. Philip G. Gayle & Xin Xie, 2018. "Entry Deterrence And Strategic Alliances," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 56(3), pages 1898-1924, July.
    15. Calzada, Joan & Fageda, Xavier & Safronov, Roman, 2022. "How do global airline alliances affect flight frequency? Evidence from Russia," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    16. Brueckner, Jan K. & Singer, Ethan, 2019. "Pricing by international airline alliances: A retrospective study," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    17. Brueckner, Jan K. & Flores-Fillol, Ricardo, 2020. "Market structure and quality determination for complementary products: Alliances and service quality in the airline industry," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    18. Le Huubinh B. & Yimga Jules, 2019. "Market Power and Marginal Cost Effects in Competing Markets: Evidence from Airline Mergers," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 18(2), pages 63-108, June.
    19. Zou, Li & Chen, Xueqian, 2017. "The effect of code-sharing alliances on airline profitability," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 50-57.
    20. Menezes Bezerra Sampaio, Raquel & Urdanoz, Miguel, 2022. "Airlines' cooperation in the US domestic market: Measuring the evolution of price gaps," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 424-443.
    21. Zakharenko, Roman & Luttmann, Alexander, 2023. "Downsizing the jet: A forecast of economic effects of increased automation in aviation," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 25-47.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Codeshare Alliance; Collusion; Airline Competition; Discrete Choice Demand Model; Nested Logit;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L40 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - General
    • L93 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Air Transportation

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