IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/indorg/v78y2021ics0167718721000679.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effect of horizontal mergers, when firms compete in prices and investments

Author

Listed:
  • Motta, Massimo
  • Tarantino, Emanuele

Abstract

Motivated by a number of high-profile antitrust cases, we study mergers when firms offer differentiated products and compete in prices and investments. Since the net effect of the merger is a priori ambiguous, we use aggregative game theory to sign it: we find that absent efficiency gains, the merger always reduces total investments and consumer surplus. We also prove that there exist classes of models for which the results obtained with cost-reducing investments are equivalent to those with quality-enhancing investments.

Suggested Citation

  • 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).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:indorg:v:78:y:2021:i:c:s0167718721000679
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijindorg.2021.102774
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167718721000679
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ijindorg.2021.102774?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. d'Aspremont, Claude & Jacquemin, Alexis, 1988. "Cooperative and Noncooperative R&D in Duopoly with Spillovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(5), pages 1133-1137, December.
    2. 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.
    3. Luis C. Corchón & Marco A. Marini (ed.), 2018. "Handbook of Game Theory and Industrial Organization, Volume II," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 17978.
    4. Chaim Fershtman & Ariel Pakes, 2000. "A Dynamic Oligopoly with Collusion and Price Wars," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 31(2), pages 207-236, Summer.
    5. Christos Genakos & Tommaso Valletti & Frank Verboven, 2018. "Evaluating market consolidation in mobile communications," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 33(93), pages 45-100.
    6. José Luis Moraga‐González & Evgenia Motchenkova & Saish Nevrekar, 2022. "Mergers and innovation portfolios," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 53(4), pages 641-677, December.
    7. Nicholas Bloom & Mark Schankerman & John Van Reenen, 2013. "Identifying Technology Spillovers and Product Market Rivalry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 81(4), pages 1347-1393, July.
    8. Motta,Massimo, 2004. "Competition Policy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521016919, September.
    9. Farrell, Joseph & Shapiro, Carl, 1990. "Horizontal Mergers: An Equilibrium Analysis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(1), pages 107-126, March.
    10. 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.
    11. Bester, Helmut & Petrakis, Emmanuel, 1993. "The incentives for cost reduction in a differentiated industry," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 519-534.
    12. Igor Letina, 2016. "The road not taken: competition and the R&D portfolio," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 47(2), pages 433-460, May.
    13. Schmutzler, Armin, 2013. "Competition and investment — A unified approach," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 477-487.
    14. López, Ángel L. & Vives, Xavier, 2016. "Cross-ownership, R&D Spillovers, and Antitrust Policy," IESE Research Papers D/1140, IESE Business School.
    15. Federico, Giulio & Langus, Gregor & Valletti, Tommaso, 2018. "Horizontal mergers and product innovation," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1-23.
    16. Volker Nocke & Michael D. Whinston, 2010. "Dynamic Merger Review," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 118(6), pages 1201-1251.
    17. Symeonidis, George, 2003. "Comparing Cournot and Bertrand equilibria in a differentiated duopoly with product R&D," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 39-55, January.
    18. Anderson, Simon P. & Peitz, Martin, 2015. "Media see-saws : winners and losers on media platforms," Working Papers 15-16, University of Mannheim, 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. Zingales, Luigi & Faccio, Mara, 2017. "Political Determinants of Competition in the Mobile Telecommunication Industry," CEPR Discussion Papers 11794, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    21. Corchon, Luis C., 1994. "Comparative statics for aggregative games the strong concavity case," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 151-165, December.
    22. Russell Pittman, 2007. "Consumer Surplus as the Appropriate Standard for Antitrust Enforcement," EAG Discussions Papers 200709, Department of Justice, Antitrust Division.
    23. Milgrom, Paul & Shannon, Chris, 1994. "Monotone Comparative Statics," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 62(1), pages 157-180, January.
    24. Jullien, Bruno & Lefouili, Yassine, 2018. "Horizontal Mergers and Innovation," CEPR Discussion Papers 12773, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    25. Charles D. Kolstad & Lars Mathiesen, 1987. "Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for Uniqueness of a Cournot Equilibrium," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 54(4), pages 681-690.
    26. Ornaghi, Carmine, 2009. "Mergers and innovation in big pharma," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 70-79, January.
    27. Neven, Damien J. & Roller, Lars-Hendrik, 2005. "Consumer surplus vs. welfare standard in a political economy model of merger control," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 23(9-10), pages 829-848, December.
    28. Federico, Giulio & Langus, Gregor & Valletti, Tommaso, 2017. "A simple model of mergers and innovation," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 136-140.
    29. Bourreau, Marc & Jullien, Bruno, 2018. "Mergers, investments and demand expansion," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 136-141.
    30. Dasgupta, Partha & Stiglitz, Joseph, 1980. "Industrial Structure and the Nature of Innovative Activity," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 90(358), pages 266-293, June.
    31. Russ Pittman, 2007. "Consumer Surplus as the Appropriate Standard for Antitrust Enforcement," CPI Journal, Competition Policy International, vol. 3.
    32. repec:cup:judgdm:v:11:y:2016:i:6:p:572-581 is not listed on IDEAS
    33. Stephen W. Salant & Sheldon Switzer & Robert J. Reynolds, 1983. "Losses From Horizontal Merger: The Effects of an Exogenous Change in Industry Structure on Cournot-Nash Equilibrium," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 98(2), pages 185-199.
    34. Cornes, Richard & Hartley, Roger, 2012. "Fully aggregative games," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 116(3), pages 631-633.
    35. Luis C. Corchón & Marco A. Marini (ed.), 2018. "Handbook of Game Theory and Industrial Organization, Volume I," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 16873.
    36. Giulio Federico & Fiona Scott Morton & Carl Shapiro, 2020. "Antitrust and Innovation: Welcoming and Protecting Disruption," Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 20(1), pages 125-190.
    37. Volker Nocke & Nicolas Schutz, 2018. "Multiproduct‐Firm Oligopoly: An Aggregative Games Approach," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 86(2), pages 523-557, March.
    38. Chad Syverson, 2004. "Market Structure and Productivity: A Concrete Example," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(6), pages 1181-1222, December.
    39. Simon P. Anderson, Nisvan Erkal and, 2009. "Aggregative Oligopoly Games with Entry," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 1175, The University of Melbourne, revised 2013.
    40. Bruno Jullien & Yassine Lefouili, 2018. "Horizontal Mergers And Innovation‡," Journal of Competition Law and Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 14(3), pages 364-392.
    41. Xavier Vives, 2008. "Innovation And Competitive Pressure," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(3), pages 419-469, December.
    42. Richard Ericson & Ariel Pakes, 1995. "Markov-Perfect Industry Dynamics: A Framework for Empirical Work," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 62(1), pages 53-82.
    43. 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.
    44. Denicolò, Vincenzo & Polo, Michele, 2018. "Duplicative research, mergers and innovation," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 56-59.
    45. By Thijs ten Raa, 2015. "Consumer surplus and CES demand," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 67(4), pages 1165-1173.
    46. Mark Doms & Eric J. Bartelsman, 2000. "Understanding Productivity: Lessons from Longitudinal Microdata," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(3), pages 569-594, September.
    47. Martin Jensen, 2010. "Aggregative games and best-reply potentials," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 43(1), pages 45-66, April.
    48. 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.
    49. R Cornes & R Hartley, 2005. "The Geometry of Aggregative Games," Economics Discussion Paper Series 0514, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    50. Spence, Michael, 1984. "Cost Reduction, Competition, and Industry Performance," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(1), pages 101-121, January.
    51. Simon P. Anderson & Nisvan Erkal & Daniel Piccinin, 2020. "Aggregative games and oligopoly theory: short‐run and long‐run analysis," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 51(2), pages 470-495, June.
    52. Qiu, Larry D., 1997. "On the Dynamic Efficiency of Bertrand and Cournot Equilibria," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 213-229, July.
    53. Joseph Farrell & Michael Katz, 2006. "The Economics of Welfare Standards in Antitrust," CPI Journal, Competition Policy International, vol. 2.
    54. Simon Loertscher & Leslie M. Marx, 2019. "Merger Review for Markets with Buyer Power," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 127(6), pages 2967-3017.
    55. Carl Davidson & Ben Ferrett, 2007. "Mergers in Multidimensional Competition," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 74(296), pages 695-712, November.
    56. Xavier Vives, 2001. "Oligopoly Pricing: Old Ideas and New Tools," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 026272040x, April.
    57. Oecd, 2004. "Competition Policy in Subsidies and State Aid," OECD Journal: Competition Law and Policy, OECD Publishing, vol. 6(1), pages 109-173.
    58. Fabio Panetta & Dario Focarelli, 2003. "Are Mergers Beneficial to Consumers? Evidence from the Italian Market for Bank Deposits," CEIS Research Paper 10, Tor Vergata University, CEIS.
    59. Dario Focarelli & Fabio Panetta, 2003. "Are Mergers Beneficial to Consumers? Evidence from the Market for Bank Deposits," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(4), pages 1152-1172, September.
    60. 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.
    61. Gautam Gowrisankaran, 1999. "A Dynamic Model of Endogenous Horizonal Mergers," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 30(1), pages 56-83, Spring.
    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. Tarantino, Emanuele & Motta, Massimo, 2016. "The Effect of a Merger on Investments," CEPR Discussion Papers 11550, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Etro, Federico, 2019. "Mergers of complements and entry in innovative industries," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 302-326.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. Cabolis, C. & Manasakis, C. & Moreno, D. & Petrakis, E., 2021. "The interactions of R&D investments and horizontal mergers," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 507-534.
    6. José Luis Moraga‐González & Evgenia Motchenkova & Saish Nevrekar, 2022. "Mergers and innovation portfolios," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 53(4), pages 641-677, December.
    7. Haucap, Justus & Stiebale, Joel, 2023. "Non-price effects of mergers and acquisitions," DICE Discussion Papers 402, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    8. Calvano, Emilio & Polo, Michele, 2021. "Market power, competition and innovation in digital markets: A survey," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    9. 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.
    10. Xavier Vives, 2008. "Innovation And Competitive Pressure," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(3), pages 419-469, December.
    11. Igor Letina & Armin Schmutzler & Regina Seibel, 2024. "Killer Acquisitions And Beyond: Policy Effects On Innovation Strategies," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 65(2), pages 591-622, May.
    12. Giulio Federico & Fiona Scott Morton & Carl Shapiro, 2020. "Antitrust and Innovation: Welcoming and Protecting Disruption," Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 20(1), pages 125-190.
    13. Bennato, Anna Rita & Davies, Stephen & Mariuzzo, Franco & Ormosi, Peter, 2021. "Mergers and innovation: Evidence from the hard disk drive market," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    14. Justin P. Johnson & Andrew Rhodes, 2021. "Multiproduct mergers and quality competition," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 52(3), pages 633-661, September.
    15. Mason, Robin & Weeds, Helen, 2013. "Merger policy, entry, and entrepreneurship," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 23-38.
    16. Volker Nocke & Nicolas Schutz, 2018. "An Aggregative Games Approach to Merger Analysis in Multiproduct-Firm Oligopoly," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2018_024, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    17. Roberto Cellini, 2021. "Whom should I merge with? How product substitutability affects merger profitability," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 48(3), pages 337-353, September.
    18. Brett Hollenbeck, 2020. "Horizontal mergers and innovation in concentrated industries," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 1-37, March.
    19. Brunner, Philipp & Letina, Igor & Schmutzler, Armin, 2024. "Research joint ventures: The role of financial constraints," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    20. Bourreau, Marc & Jullien, Bruno & Lefouili, Yassine, 2018. "Horizontal Mergers and Incremental Innovation," TSE Working Papers 18-907, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Jul 2024.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Horizontal mergers; Innovation; Investments; Competition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K22 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Business and Securities Law
    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L41 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Monopolization; Horizontal Anticompetitive Practices

    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:indorg:v:78:y:2021:i:c:s0167718721000679. 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/inca/505551 .

    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.