IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/qed/wpaper/1517.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Market Power and Spatial Price Discrimination in the Liquefied Natural Gas Industry

Author

Listed:
  • Nahim Bin Zahur

Abstract

The liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry is characterized by systematic inter-regional price differentials, raising the question of whether sellers price discriminate. This paper measures market power in the LNG spot market and studies how market power influences pricing, trade and welfare. I develop a novel method for inferring market conduct that utilizes information on sellers’ pricing and quantity decisions across multiple geographically segmented markets. My test for market conduct is based on the observation that sellers exercising market power engage in third-degree price discrimination, whereas sellers behaving competitively do not. Using data from 2006 to 2017 on spot market trade flows, spot prices, shipping costs and seller capacities, I estimate a structural model of LNG trade and pricing that incorporates spatial differentiation, capacity constraints and trade frictions and flexibly nests different models of seller market power. I find that seller decisions are consistent with a Cournot model and unlikely to be generated by a competitive model. The total deadweight loss from market power is estimated to be USD 12 billion, or about 4.5% of total revenue. I find that market power plays a key role in exacerbating inter-regional price differentials.

Suggested Citation

  • Nahim Bin Zahur, 2023. "Market Power and Spatial Price Discrimination in the Liquefied Natural Gas Industry," Working Paper 1517, Economics Department, Queen's University.
    • Handle: RePEc:qed:wpaper:1517
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econ.queensu.ca/sites/econ.queensu.ca/files/wpaper/qed_wp_1517.pdf
    File Function: First version 2023
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ritz, Robert A., 2014. "Price discrimination and limits to arbitrage: An analysis of global LNG markets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 324-332.
    2. Andrew Sweeting, 2007. "Market Power In The England And Wales Wholesale Electricity Market 1995-2000," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(520), pages 654-685, April.
    3. Sofia Berto Villas‐Boas, 2009. "An empirical investigation of the welfare effects of banning wholesale price discrimination," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 40(1), pages 20-46, March.
    4. Ali Hortaçsu & Steven L. Puller, 2008. "Understanding strategic bidding in multi‐unit auctions: a case study of the Texas electricity spot market," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 39(1), pages 86-114, March.
    5. Villas-Boas, Sofia B, 2009. "An Empirical Investigation of the Welfare Effects of Banning Wholesale Price Discrimination," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt3fq869bb, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Richard Volpe & Edward C Jaenicke & Lauren Chenarides, 2018. "Store Formats, Market Structure, and Consumers’ Food Shopping Decisions," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 40(4), pages 672-694, December.
    2. Holmberg, Pär & Newbery, David & Ralph, Daniel, 2013. "Supply function equilibria: Step functions and continuous representations," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 148(4), pages 1509-1551.
    3. Philip G. Gayle, 2013. "On the Efficiency of Codeshare Contracts between Airlines: Is Double Marginalization Eliminated?," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(4), pages 244-273, November.
    4. David P. Brown & Andrew Eckert, 2018. "Analyzing the Impact of Electricity Market Structure Changes and Mergers: The Importance of Forward Commitments," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 52(1), pages 101-137, February.
    5. Juha Teirilä and Robert A. Ritz, 2019. "Strategic Behaviour in a Capacity Market? The New Irish Electricity Market Design," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(The New E).
    6. Karp, Larry & Perloff, Jeffrey, 2011. "The iPhone Goes Downstream: Mandatory Universal Distribution∗," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt7vc007jh, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    7. Romero, Jaime & Cruz-Roche, Ignacio & Charron, Jean-Philippe, 2020. "The myth of price convergence under economic integration: A proposed explanation for the difference in food prices across European countries," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 267-276.
    8. Yonezawa, Koichi & Gomez, Miguel I. & Richards, Timothy J., "undated". "The Robinson-Patman Act and Vertical Relationships in Food Retailing," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274204, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. David P. Brown & Andrew Eckert, 2022. "Pricing Patterns in Wholesale Electricity Markets: Unilateral Market Power or Coordinated Behavior?," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(1), pages 168-216, March.
    10. Cadman, Richard, 2019. "Legal separation of BT: A necessary incentive for investment?," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 38-49.
    11. Allain, Marie-Laure & Chambolle, Claire & Turolla, Stéphane, "undated". "The Effect of Input Price Discrimination on Retail Prices: Theory and Evidence from France," Working Papers 327329, Institut National de la recherche Agronomique (INRA), Departement Sciences Sociales, Agriculture et Alimentation, Espace et Environnement (SAE2).
    12. Daniel Garcia & Jun Honda & Maarten Janssen, 2017. "The Double Diamond Paradox," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 63-99, August.
    13. Joseph Mullins & Liam Wagner & John Foster, 2010. "Price Spikes in Electricity Markets: A Strategic Perspective," Energy Economics and Management Group Working Papers 05, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    14. Brown, David P. & Eckert, Andrew & Eckert, Heather, 2018. "Carbon pricing with an output subsidy under imperfect competition: The case of Alberta's restructured electricity market," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 102-123.
    15. Fosfuri, Andrea & Giarratana, Marco S. & Roca, Esther, 2010. "Community-based strategies in action: building and sustaining a product differentiation advantage," IC3JM - Estudios = Working Papers id-10-01, Instituto Mixto Carlos III - Juan March de Ciencias Sociales (IC3JM).
    16. Celine Bonnet & Pierre Dubois & Sofia B. Villas Boas & Daniel Klapper, 2013. "Empirical Evidence on the Role of Nonlinear Wholesale Pricing and Vertical Restraints on Cost Pass-Through," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(2), pages 500-515, May.
    17. Garrett, Daniel & Gomes, Renato & Maestri, Lucas, 2021. "Oligopoly under incomplete information: On the welfare effects of price discrimination," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    18. Holmberg, Pär & Newbery, David, 2010. "The supply function equilibrium and its policy implications for wholesale electricity auctions," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 209-226, December.
    19. Adachi, Takanori & Ebina, Takeshi, 2014. "Cost pass-through and inverse demand curvature in vertical relationships with upstream and downstream competition," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 124(3), pages 465-468.
    20. Emanuela Ciapanna & Concetta Rondinelli, 2011. "Retail sector concentration and price dynamics in the euro area: a regional analysis," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 107, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • Q41 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Demand and Supply; Prices

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:qed:wpaper:1517. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Mark Babcock (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/qedquca.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.