IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/rae/wpaper/202206.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Effect of Input Price Discrimination on Retail Prices: Theory and Evidence from France

Author

Listed:
  • Marie-Laure Allain
  • Claire Chambolle
  • Stéphane Turolla

Abstract

We develop a model of vertical relations between national brand and private label producers and competing multi-product retailers to derive new predictions on the impact of input price discrimination on retail prices. A reform that lifted a ban on input price discrimination in France provides a natural experiment to test these predictions. Using household scanner data on food prices, we run a difference-in-differences analysis and show that the reform caused a significant decrease of the relative prices of national brand products. These results suggest a pro-competitive effect of authorizing input price discrimination.

Suggested Citation

  • Marie-Laure Allain & Claire Chambolle & Stéphane Turolla, 2022. "The Effect of Input Price Discrimination on Retail Prices: Theory and Evidence from France," Working Papers SMART 22-06, INRAE UMR SMART.
    • Handle: RePEc:rae:wpaper:202206
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/327329
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Claire Chambolle & Clémence Christin & Guy Meunier, 2015. "Optimal Production Channel for Private Labels: Too Much or Too Little Innovation?," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(2), pages 348-368, June.
    2. Allain, Marie-Laure & Chambolle, Claire, 2011. "Anti-competitive effects of resale-below-cost laws," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 373-385, July.
    3. Daniel S. Hosken & Luke M. Olson & Loren K. Smith, 2018. "Do retail mergers affect competition? Evidence from grocery retailing," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 3-22, March.
    4. Aviv Nevo & Arlene Wong, 2019. "The Elasticity Of Substitution Between Time And Market Goods: Evidence From The Great Recession," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 60(1), pages 25-51, February.
    5. Oliver Hart & Jean Tirole, 1990. "Vertical Integration and Market Foreclosure," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 21(1990 Micr), pages 205-286.
    6. Rachel Griffith & Martin O'Connell & Kate Smith, 2016. "Shopping Around: How Households Adjusted Food Spending Over the Great Recession," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 83(330), pages 247-280, April.
    7. Jean-Pierre Dubé & Günter J. Hitsch & Peter E. Rossi, 2018. "Income and Wealth Effects on Private-Label Demand: Evidence from the Great Recession," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 37(1), pages 22-53, January.
    8. Mathias André & Antoine Bozio & Malka Guillot & Louise Paul‐Delvaux, 2015. "French Public Finances through the Financial Crisis: It's a Long Way to Recovery," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 36, pages 431-452, December.
    9. Marie-Laure Allain & Claire Chambolle & Stéphane Turolla & Sofia B. Villas-Boas, 2017. "Retail Mergers and Food Prices: Evidence from France," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(3), pages 469-509, September.
    10. Aguzzoni, Luca & Argentesi, Elena & Ciari, Lorenzo & Duso, Tomaso & Tognoni, Massimo, 2016. "Ex-post Merger Evaluation in the U.K. Retail Market for Books," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 64(1), pages 170-200.
    11. Nathan H. Miller & Matthew C. Weinberg, 2017. "Understanding the Price Effects of the MillerCoors Joint Venture," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 85(6), pages 1763-1791, November.
    12. Levitan, Richard & Shubik, Martin, 1971. "Price variation duopoly with differentiated products and random demand," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 3(1), pages 23-39, March.
    13. Orley C. Ashenfelter & Daniel S. Hosken & Matthew C. Weinberg, 2013. "The Price Effects of a Large Merger of Manufacturers: A Case Study of Maytag-Whirlpool," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 239-261, February.
    14. Katz, Michael L, 1987. "The Welfare Effects of Third-Degree Price Discrimination in," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(1), pages 154-167, March.
    15. Jacques Cremer & Michael H. Riordan, 1987. "On Governing Multilateral Transactions with Bilateral Contracts," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 18(3), pages 436-451, Autumn.
    16. Salinger, Michael A, 1991. "Vertical Mergers in Multi-product Industries and Edgeworth's Paradox of Taxation," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(5), pages 545-556, September.
    17. Koichi Yonezawa & Miguel I Gómez & Timothy J Richards, 2020. "The Robinson–Patman Act and Vertical Relationships," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(1), pages 329-352, January.
    18. Fabian Herweg & Daniel Müller, 2014. "Price Discrimination in Input Markets: Quantity Discounts and Private Information," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 124(577), pages 776-804, June.
    19. Matthew Grennan, 2013. "Price Discrimination and Bargaining: Empirical Evidence from Medical Devices," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(1), pages 145-177, February.
    20. Matthew C. Weinberg & Daniel Hosken, 2013. "Evidence on the Accuracy of Merger Simulations," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(5), pages 1584-1600, December.
    21. Anil Arya & Brian Mittendorf, 2010. "Input Price Discrimination When Buyers Operate In Multiple Markets," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(4), pages 846-867, December.
    22. Roman Inderst & Tommaso Valletti, 2009. "Price discrimination in input markets," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 40(1), pages 1-19, March.
    23. Rey, Patrick & Tirole, Jean, 2007. "A Primer on Foreclosure," Handbook of Industrial Organization, in: Mark Armstrong & Robert Porter (ed.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 33, pages 2145-2220, Elsevier.
    24. O'Brien, Daniel P & Shaffer, Greg, 1994. "The Welfare Effects of Forbidding Discriminatory Discounts: A Secondary Line Analysis of Robinson-Patman," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 10(2), pages 296-318, October.
    25. 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.
    26. Nirvikar Singh & Xavier Vives, 1984. "Price and Quantity Competition in a Differentiated Duopoly," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 15(4), pages 546-554, Winter.
    27. Rachel Griffith & Michal Krol & Kate Smith, 2018. "Why Do Retailers Advertise Store Brands Differently Across Product Categories?," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(3), pages 519-569, September.
    28. Roman Inderst & Greg Shaffer, 2009. "Market power, price discrimination, and allocative efficiency in intermediate‐goods markets," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 40(4), pages 658-672, December.
    29. Orley Ashenfelter & Daniel Hosken, 2010. "The Effect of Mergers on Consumer Prices: Evidence from Five Mergers on the Enforcement Margin," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 53(3), pages 417-466.
    30. Claire Chambolle & Clémence Christin & Guy Meunier, 2015. "Optimal Production Channel for Private Labels: Too Much or Too Little Innovation?," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(2), pages 348-368, June.
    31. Choné, Philippe & Linnemer, Laurent, 2020. "Linear demand systems for differentiated goods: Overview and user’s guide," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    32. Stéphane Caprice, 2006. "Multilateral Vertical Contracting with an Alternative Supply: The Welfare Effects of a Ban on Price Discrimination," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 28(1), pages 63-80, February.
    33. Yoshihiro Yoshida, 2000. "Third-Degree Price Discrimination in Input Markets: Output and Welfare," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(1), pages 240-246, March.
    34. McAfee, R Preston & Schwartz, Marius, 1994. "Opportunism in Multilateral Vertical Contracting: Nondiscrimination, Exclusivity, and Uniformity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(1), pages 210-230, March.
    35. Fernando Luco & Guillermo Marshall, 2020. "The Competitive Impact of Vertical Integration by Multiproduct Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(7), pages 2041-2064, July.
    36. Youping Li, 2017. "Differential Pricing in Intermediate Good Markets," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(3), pages 585-596, September.
    37. DeGraba, Patrick, 1990. "Input Market Price Discrimination and the Choice of Technology," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(5), pages 1246-1253, December.
    38. Raymond Deneckere & Carl Davidson, 1985. "Incentives to Form Coalitions with Bertrand Competition," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 16(4), pages 473-486, Winter.
    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. Fabian Herweg & Daniel Müller, 2014. "Price Discrimination in Input Markets: Quantity Discounts and Private Information," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 124(577), pages 776-804, June.
    2. Herweg, Fabian & Müller, Daniel, 2016. "Discriminatory nonlinear pricing, fixed costs, and welfare in intermediate-goods markets," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 107-136.
    3. Ioannis Pinopoulos, 2017. "Input price discrimination, two-part tariff contracts and bargaining," Discussion Paper Series 2017_01, Department of Economics, University of Macedonia, revised Jan 2017.
    4. Ioannis N. Pinopoulos, 2022. "Input Price Discrimination, Two‐Part Tariffs and Bargaining," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 70(4), pages 1058-1090, December.
    5. Ioannis N. Pinopoulos, 2020. "Input Price Discrimination and Upstream R&D Investments," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 57(1), pages 85-106, August.
    6. Youping Li, 2017. "Differential Pricing in Intermediate Good Markets," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(3), pages 585-596, September.
    7. Kangsik Choi & DongJoon Lee & Seonyoung Lim, 2022. "A Note on Input Price Discrimination Under Bertrand Competition: Simultaneous vs. Sequential Contracting," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 61(2), pages 223-246, September.
    8. Bisceglia, Michele & Padilla, Jorge & Piccolo, Salvatore, 2021. "When prohibiting wholesale price-parity agreements may harm consumers," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    9. Johan Hombert & Jérôme Pouyet & Nicolas Schutz, 2019. "Anticompetitive Vertical Merger Waves," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(3-4), pages 484-514, September.
    10. Chin-Sheng Chen, 2017. "Price Discrimination in Input Markets and Quality Differentiation," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 50(3), pages 367-388, May.
    11. Chin-Sheng Chen & Hong Hwang, 2014. "Spatial Price Discrimination in Input Markets with an Endogenous Market Boundary," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 45(2), pages 139-152, September.
    12. Stéphane Caprice & Vanessa von Schlippenbach, 2008. "Competition policy in a concentrated and globalized retail industry," Post-Print hal-02656654, HAL.
    13. Wang, Xingtang, 2022. "Input price discrimination, pricing contract and social welfare," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 91-96.
    14. Herweg, Fabian & Müller, Daniel, 2010. "Price Discrimination in Input Markets: Downstream Entry and Welfare," Bonn Econ Discussion Papers 06/2010, University of Bonn, Bonn Graduate School of Economics (BGSE).
    15. Asseyer, Andreas, 2020. "Wholesale price discrimination with regulatory asymmetry," Discussion Papers 2020/1, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    16. Fabian Herweg & Daniel Müller, 2012. "Price Discrimination in Input Markets: Downstream Entry and Efficiency," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(3), pages 773-799, September.
    17. Inderst, Roman & Shaffer, Greg, 2011. "Wholesale Price Determination Under the Threat of Demand-Side Substitution," MPRA Paper 53843, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Janssen, Maarten & Reshidi, Edona, 2018. "Retail Discrimination in Search Markets," CEPR Discussion Papers 12945, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. Shana Cui & David E. M. Sappington, 2021. "Access pricing in network industries with mixed oligopoly," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 193-225, June.
    20. Adachi, Takanori, 2023. "A sufficient statistics approach for welfare analysis of oligopolistic third‐degree price discrimination," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    input price discrimination; policy evaluation; food retail sector;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K21 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Antitrust Law
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L42 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Vertical Restraints; Resale Price Maintenance; Quantity Discounts
    • L66 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Food; Beverages; Cosmetics; Tobacco
    • L81 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce

    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:rae:wpaper:202206. 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: Anne Chauvel (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inrarfr.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.