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US domestic airline alliances: does the national welfare impact turn on strategic international gains?

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  • JA. Clougherty

Abstract

The six largest U.S. airlines announced in the beginning of 1998 the formation of three domestic alliances, but the size and scope of these alliances spurred significant public interest concerns. GAO analysis suggests a rough equivalence between the domestic costs and benefits of alliances, yet the international competitive effects have not been considered. I argue that the national welfare merits of domestic airline alliances turn on positive international competitive effects. Empirical tests ‐ run on comprehensive panel data covering the international airline markets among 21 nations over the 1983–1992 period ‐ support domestic market concentration resulting in strategic international gains; hence, domestic airline alliances likely improve national welfare.

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  • JA. Clougherty, 2000. "US domestic airline alliances: does the national welfare impact turn on strategic international gains?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 18(3), pages 304-314, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:coecpo:v:18:y:2000:i:3:p:304-314
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1465-7287.2000.tb00027.x
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    Cited by:

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    2. Harumi Ito & Darin Lee, 2007. "Domestic Code Sharing, Alliances, and Airfares in the U.S. Airline Industry," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 50(2), pages 355-380.
    3. J. Nolan & P. Ritchie & J. Rowcroft, 2001. "Open skies and open gates," Transportation, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 119-135, May.
    4. Goh, Mark & Yong, Jongsay, 2006. "Impacts of code-share alliances on airline cost structure: A truncated third-order translog estimation," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 835-866, July.
    5. Ho, Chun-Yu & McCarthy, Patrick & Wang, Yanhao, 2021. "Competition and countervailing power: Evidence from the China Eastern and Shanghai Airlines merger," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    6. Goel, A., 2003. "Strategic Alliances in the Global Airline Industry," IIMA Working Papers WP2003-01-02, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    7. Jiang, Changmin & Zhang, Anming, 2014. "Effects of high-speed rail and airline cooperation under hub airport capacity constraint," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 33-49.
    8. Zhang, Yahua & Round, David K., 2008. "China's airline deregulation since 1997 and the driving forces behind the 2002 airline consolidations," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 130-142.
    9. Anming Zhang & Yimin Zhang & Joseph A. Clougherty, 2011. "Competition and Regulation in Air Transport," Chapters, in: André de Palma & Robin Lindsey & Emile Quinet & Roger Vickerman (ed.), A Handbook of Transport Economics, chapter 35, Edward Elgar Publishing.

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