The aim of this paper is to provide empirically testable predictions regarding the relationship between market size and concentration. In the first part of the paper, a model of endogenous horizontal mergers is investigated. It is shown that concentrated outcomes can not be supported in a free entry equilibrium in large exogenous sunk cost industries: the upper bound to concentration tends to zero as market size (relative to setup costs) tends to infinity. In contrast, arbitrarily concentrated outcomes may be sustained in endogenous sunk cost industries, no matter how large the market, and even in the absence of mergers; that is, the upper bound to concentration does not decrease with market size. The second part of the paper formalises Stigler's idea that mergers may induce new entry. Using a recent equilibrium concept, which is defined not in the space of strategies, but in the space of observable outcomes, it is shown that the above predictions do not depend on the details of the extensive form of the game, even allowing for side payments between firms and endogenous product choice. The results complement those of Sutton (1991) on the stability of fragmented outcomes.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Christopher F. Baum).
Related research
Keywords:
References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
Cited by: (explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)