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Competition and Price Discrimination: Evidence from the Parking Garage Industry

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  • Haizhen Lin
  • Isabelle Yijia Wang

Abstract

type="main"> We study the relationship between competition and price discrimination through an empirical examination of hourly price schedules in the parking garage industry. We find that the degree of price schedule curvature decreases with competition, implying a greater proportionate drop in low-end prices than in high-end prices when competition intensifies. Our findings suggest that competition constrains a firm's capacity to exercise price discrimination, confirming the classic textbook theory. We also offer possible explanations for our findings, including a search cost explanation, for which we find some support in the data.

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  • Haizhen Lin & Isabelle Yijia Wang, 2015. "Competition and Price Discrimination: Evidence from the Parking Garage Industry," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(3), pages 522-548, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jindec:v:63:y:2015:i:3:p:522-548
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    Cited by:

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    2. Lewis, Matthew S., 2021. "Identifying airline price discrimination and the effect of competition," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    3. Goetz, Daniel, 2023. "Telemedicine competition, pricing, and technology adoption: Evidence from talk therapists," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    4. Gil, Ricard & Riera-Crichton, Daniel & Ruzzier, Christian, 2016. "As Seen on TV: Price Discrimination and Competition in Television Advertising," MPRA Paper 75993, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Gihwan Yi & Min Kim & Hoe Sang Chung, 2024. "The Revenue Impact of Differential Seat Pricing and Competition in the Movie Theater Market," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 64(3), pages 361-382, May.
    6. Hovhannisyan, Vardges & Bozic, Marin, 2016. "The Relationship Between Price And Market Structure: Evidence From The Us Food Retail Industry," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 236222, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    7. Hajime Seya & Kay W. Axhausen & Makoto Chikaraishi, 2020. "Spatial unconditional quantile regression: application to Japanese parking price data," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 65(2), pages 351-402, October.
    8. Gragera, Albert & Albalate, Daniel, 2016. "The impact of curbside parking regulation on garage demand," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 160-168.
    9. Albalate, Daniel & Gragera, Albert, 2017. "The determinants of garage prices and their interaction with curbside regulation," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 86-97.
    10. Ignatenko, Anna, 2024. "Competition and Price Discrimination in International Transportation," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 6/2024, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    11. Krishnamurthy, Chandra Kiran B. & Ngo, Nicole S., 2020. "The effects of smart-parking on transit and traffic: Evidence from SFpark," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).

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