IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolet/v157y2017icp136-140.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A simple model of mergers and innovation

Author

Listed:
  • Federico, Giulio
  • Langus, Gregor
  • Valletti, Tommaso

Abstract

We analyze the impact of a merger on firms’ incentives to innovate. We show that the merging parties always decrease their innovation efforts post-merger while the outsiders to the merger respond by increasing their effort. A merger tends to reduce overall innovation. Consumers are always worse off after a merger. Our model calls into question the applicability of the “inverted-U” relationship between innovation and competition to a merger setting.

Suggested Citation

  • Federico, Giulio & Langus, Gregor & Valletti, Tommaso, 2017. "A simple model of mergers and innovation," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 136-140.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:157:y:2017:i:c:p:136-140
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2017.06.014
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165176517302410
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econlet.2017.06.014?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Philippe Aghion & Nick Bloom & Richard Blundell & Rachel Griffith & Peter Howitt, 2005. "Competition and Innovation: an Inverted-U Relationship," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(2), pages 701-728.
    2. López, Ángel L. & Vives, Xavier, 2016. "Cross-ownership, R&D Spillovers, and Antitrust Policy," IESE Research Papers D/1140, IESE Business School.
    3. Gilbert Richard J, 2006. "Competition and Innovation," Journal of Industrial Organization Education, De Gruyter, vol. 1(1), pages 1-23, December.
    4. repec:cup:judgdm:v:11:y:2016:i:6:p:572-581 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Farrell Joseph & Shapiro Carl, 2010. "Antitrust Evaluation of Horizontal Mergers: An Economic Alternative to Market Definition," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-41, March.
    6. Xavier Vives, 2008. "Innovation And Competitive Pressure," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(3), pages 419-469, December.
    7. repec:reg:rpubli:443 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Yongmin Chen & Marius Schwartz, 2013. "Product Innovation Incentives: Monopoly vs. Competition," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(3), pages 513-528, September.
    9. Ángel L. López & Xavier Vives, 2019. "Overlapping Ownership, R&D Spillovers, and Antitrust Policy," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 127(5), pages 2394-2437.
    10. Tarantino, Emanuele & Motta, Massimo, 2016. "The Effect of a Merger on Investments," CEPR Discussion Papers 11550, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. Philippe Aghion & Christopher Harris & Peter Howitt & John Vickers, 2001. "Competition, Imitation and Growth with Step-by-Step Innovation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 68(3), pages 467-492.
    12. Boubakri, Narjess & El Ghoul, Sadok & Wang, He & Guedhami, Omrane & Kwok, Chuck C.Y., 2016. "Cross-listing and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 123-138.
    13. Reinganum, Jennifer F., 1989. "The timing of innovation: Research, development, and diffusion," Handbook of Industrial Organization, in: R. Schmalensee & R. Willig (ed.), Handbook of Industrial Organization, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 14, pages 849-908, Elsevier.
    14. Richard Gilbert, 2006. "Looking for Mr. Schumpeter: Where Are We in the Competition-Innovation Debate?," NBER Chapters, in: Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 6, pages 159-215, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    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. Federico, Giulio & Langus, Gregor & Valletti, Tommaso, 2018. "Horizontal mergers and product innovation," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1-23.
    2. Jullien, Bruno & Lefouili, Yassine, 2018. "Horizontal Mergers and Innovation," CEPR Discussion Papers 12773, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. Benno Buehler & Daniel Coublucq & Cyril Hariton & Gregor Langus & Tommaso Valletti, 2017. "Recent Developments at DG Competition: 2016/2017," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 51(4), pages 397-422, December.
    4. Federico, Giulio & Langus, Gregor & Valletti, Tommaso, 2018. "Reprint of: Horizontal mergers and product innovation," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 590-612.
    5. Yang, Jinrui, 2016. "Monopoly VS Competition: Market Structure’s Impact on Product Innovation-with Endogenous Quality of New Product," MPRA Paper 70094, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Alexander Steinmetz, 2015. "Competition, innovation, and the effect of R&D knowledge," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 115(3), pages 199-230, July.
    7. Aghion, Philippe & Akcigit, Ufuk & Howitt, Peter, 2014. "What Do We Learn From Schumpeterian Growth Theory?," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 515-563, Elsevier.
    8. Bessonova, Evguenia & Gonchar, Ksenia, 2019. "How the innovation-competition link is shaped by technology distance in a high-barrier catch-up economy," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 86, pages 15-32.
    9. Philippe Aghion & Peter Howitt & Susanne Prantl, 2015. "Patent rights, product market reforms, and innovation," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 223-262, September.
    10. Motta, Massimo & Tarantino, Emanuele, 2021. "The effect of horizontal mergers, when firms compete in prices and investments," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    11. Lin, Ping & Zhou, Wen, 2013. "The effects of competition on the R&D portfolios of multiproduct firms," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 83-91.
    12. Feichtinger, Gustav & Lambertini, Luca & Leitmann, George & Wrzaczek, Stefan, 2016. "R&D for green technologies in a dynamic oligopoly: Schumpeter, arrow and inverted-U’s," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 249(3), pages 1131-1138.
    13. Haucap, Justus & Rasch, Alexander & Stiebale, Joel, 2019. "How mergers affect innovation: Theory and evidence," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 283-325.
    14. Dragone, Davide & Lambertini, Luca & Palestini, Arsen, 2022. "Emission taxation, green innovations and inverted-U aggregate R&D efforts in a linear state differential game," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 62-68.
    15. Christian Oertel & Armin Schmutzler, 2022. "Challenging the incumbent: Entry in markets with captive consumers and taste heterogeneity," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 961-979, November.
    16. Michael Peneder & Martin Woerter, 2014. "Competition, R&D and innovation: testing the inverted-U in a simultaneous system," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 653-687, July.
    17. Schmutzler, Armin, 2010. "The relation between competition and innovation -- Why is it such a mess?," CEPR Discussion Papers 7640, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    18. Steinmetz, Alexander, 2010. "Competition, innovation, and the effect of knowledge accumulation," W.E.P. - Würzburg Economic Papers 81, University of Würzburg, Department of Economics.
    19. Marshall, Guillermo & Parra, Álvaro, 2019. "Innovation and competition: The role of the product market," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 221-247.
    20. Lefouili, Yassine & Madio, Leonardo, 2023. "Market Structure and Investments : A Progress Report," TSE Working Papers 23-1491, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Sep 2024.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Innovation; R&D; Mergers;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • L40 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - General
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General

    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:eee:ecolet:v:157:y:2017:i:c:p:136-140. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolet .

    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.