IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/irlaec/v47y2016icp33-40.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Duopoly competition with non-deceptive counterfeiters

Author

Listed:
  • Wu, Chien-Wei
  • Gong, Jyh-Chyi
  • Chiu, Hsien-Hung

Abstract

This paper considers that two differentiated branded firms compete in the Hotelling's framework and face outside competition from non-deceptive counterfeiters. The presence of counterfeit goods gives rise to two various effects on branded firms’ profit: on the one hand, it undermines the sale of branded goods (substitution effect); on the other hand, it alleviates the intensity of price competition between branded firms (price increasing effect). We argue that, under certain circumstances, the price increasing effect may dominate the substitution effect, thereby boosting the branded firms’ profits. We also discuss the impact of the strength of intellectual property right (IPR) enforcement on the price and profit of the branded firms. The discussion may shed light on a long-standing debate on criminalizing the purchase of counterfeit goods.

Suggested Citation

  • Wu, Chien-Wei & Gong, Jyh-Chyi & Chiu, Hsien-Hung, 2016. "Duopoly competition with non-deceptive counterfeiters," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 33-40.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:irlaec:v:47:y:2016:i:c:p:33-40
    DOI: 10.1016/j.irle.2016.04.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0144818816300151
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.irle.2016.04.002?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ding, Yucheng, 2014. "Why Branded Firm may Benefit from Counterfeit Competition," MPRA Paper 52933, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Takeyama, Lisa N, 1997. "The Intertemporal Consequences of Unauthorized Reproduction of Intellectual Property," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 40(2), pages 511-522, October.
    3. Takeyama, Lisa N, 1994. "The Welfare Implications of Unauthorized Reproduction of Intellectual Property in the Presence of Demand Network Externalities," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(2), pages 155-166, June.
    4. Jen-Te Yao, 2005. "How a Luxury Monopolist Might Benefit from a Stringent Counterfeit Monitoring Regime," International Journal of Business and Economics, School of Management Development, Feng Chia University, Taichung, Taiwan, vol. 4(3), pages 177-192, December.
    5. Insaf Bekir & Sana El Harbi & Gilles Grolleau, 2013. "How a luxury monopolist might benefit from the aspirational utility effect of counterfeiting?," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 169-182, August.
    6. Grossman, Gene M & Shapiro, Carl, 1988. "Counterfeit-Product Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(1), pages 59-75, March.
    7. Peitz, Martin & Waelbroeck, Patrick, 2006. "Piracy of digital products: A critical review of the theoretical literature," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 449-476, November.
    8. Chien-Wei Wu & Hsien-Hung Chiu, 2014. "Turning counterfeiting into advantage: the case of a durable good monopolist," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(16), pages 1122-1127, November.
    9. Yi Qian, 2014. "Counterfeiters: Foes or Friends? How Counterfeits Affect Sales by Product Quality Tier," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(10), pages 2381-2400, October.
    10. Gene M. Grossman & Carl Shapiro, 1988. "Foreign Counterfeiting of Status Goods," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 103(1), pages 79-100.
    11. Simona Romani & Giacomo Gistri & Stefano Pace, 2012. "When counterfeits raise the appeal of luxury brands," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 807-824, September.
    12. Jonathan M. Barnett & Gilles Grolleau & Sana El Harbi, 2010. "The Fashion Lottery: Cooperative Innovation in Stochastic Markets," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 39(1), pages 159-200, January.
    13. Insaf Bekir & Sana El Harbi & Gilles Grolleau, 2012. "The strategy of raising counterfeiters’ costs in luxury markets," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 33(3), pages 645-661, June.
    14. Gayer, Amit & Shy, Oz, 2003. "Internet and peer-to-peer distributions in markets for digital products," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 197-203, November.
    15. Coase, Ronald H, 1972. "Durability and Monopoly," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(1), pages 143-149, April.
    16. Yi Qian, 2008. "Impacts of Entry by Counterfeiters," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(4), pages 1577-1609.
    17. Minniti, Antonio & Vergari, Cecilia, 2010. "Turning Piracy into Profits: a Theoretical Investigation," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 379-390, December.
    18. Yongmin Chen & Michael H. Riordan, 2008. "Price‐increasing competition," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 39(4), pages 1042-1058, December.
    19. Ben-Shahar Danny & Jacob Assaf, 2004. "Selective Enforcement of Copyright as an Optimal Monopolistic Behavior," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 3(1), pages 1-29, September.
    20. Bagwell, Laurie Simon & Bernheim, B Douglas, 1996. "Veblen Effects in a Theory of Conspicuous Consumption," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(3), pages 349-373, June.
    21. Yi Qian, 2007. "Do National Patent Laws Stimulate Domestic Innovation in a Global Patenting Environment? A Cross-Country Analysis of Pharmaceutical Patent Protection, 1978-2002," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 89(3), pages 436-453, August.
    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. Butticè, Vincenzo & Caviggioli, Federico & Franzoni, Chiara & Scellato, Giuseppe & Stryszowski, Piotr & Thumm, Nikolaus, 2020. "Counterfeiting in digital technologies: An empirical analysis of the economic performance and innovative activities of affected companies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(5).
    2. Nikolaus Thumm & Vincenzo Butticè & Federico Caviggioli & Chiara Franzoni & Giuseppe, Scellato, 2018. "Impact of counterfeiting on the performance of digital technology companies," JRC Working Papers on Digital Economy 2018-03, Joint Research Centre.
    3. Yi Qian, 2014. "Counterfeiters: Foes or Friends? How Counterfeits Affect Sales by Product Quality Tier," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(10), pages 2381-2400, October.
    4. Andrea Di Liddo, 2018. "Does counterfeiting benefit genuine manufacturer? The role of production costs," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 81-125, February.
    5. Minniti, Antonio & Vergari, Cecilia, 2010. "Turning Piracy into Profits: a Theoretical Investigation," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 379-390, December.
    6. Jonas Häckner & Astri Muren, 2015. "Counterfeiting and Negative Consumption Externalities – A Closer Look," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 337-350, December.
    7. Komarova, Anastasiya (Комарова, Анастасия) & Kurdin, Alexander (Курдин, Александр), 2014. "The impact of digital piracy on market strategies in software [Влияние Цифрового Пиратства На Рыночные Стратегии В Сфере Программного Обеспечения]," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 6, pages 54-75, December.
    8. Yao, Jen-Te, 2015. "The impact of counterfeit-purchase penalties on anti-counterfeiting under deceptive counterfeiting," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 51-61.
    9. Bradley, Wendy A. & Kolev, Julian, 2023. "How does digital piracy affect innovation? Evidence from software firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(3).
    10. Ding, Yucheng, 2014. "Why Branded Firm may Benefit from Counterfeit Competition," MPRA Paper 52933, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Sun, Jiong & Zhang, Xing & Zhu, Qingyuan, 2020. "Counterfeiters in Online Marketplaces: Stealing Your Sales or Sharing Your Costs," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 189-202.
    12. Insaf Bekir & Sana El Harbi & Gilles Grolleau, 2013. "How a luxury monopolist might benefit from the aspirational utility effect of counterfeiting?," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 169-182, August.
    13. Petal Jean Hackett, 2012. "Cutting too Close? Design Protection and Innovation in Fashion Goods," CESifo Working Paper Series 3716, CESifo.
    14. Tin Cheuk Leung, 2013. "What Is the True Loss Due to Piracy? Evidence from Microsoft Office in Hong Kong," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(3), pages 1018-1029, July.
    15. William M. Volckmann, 2023. "The effects of market size, wealth, and network effects on digital piracy and profit," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 55(1), pages 61-85, February.
    16. Bate, Roger & Jin, Ginger Zhe & Mathur, Aparna, 2011. "Does price reveal poor-quality drugs? Evidence from 17 countries," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 1150-1163.
    17. Laura Alfaro & Cathy Bao & Maggie X. Chen & Junjie Hong & Claudia Steinwender, 2022. "Omnia Juncta in Uno*: foreign powers and trademark protection in Shanghai's concession era," CEP Discussion Papers dp1827, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    18. Chao, Hong & Ho, Chun-Yu & Leung, Tin Cheuk & Ng, Travis, 2017. "To root or not to root? The economics of jailbreak," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 481-497.
    19. Wagner, Laura & Gürbüz, Mustafa Ҫagri & Parlar, Mahmut, 2019. "Is it fake? Using potentially low quality suppliers as back-up when genuine suppliers are unavailable," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 185-200.
    20. Bian, Xuemei & Wang, Kai-Yu & Smith, Andrew & Yannopoulou, Natalia, 2016. "New insights into unethical counterfeit consumption," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 4249-4258.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Counterfeit goods; Intellectual property right; Product differentiation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets

    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:irlaec:v:47:y:2016:i:c:p:33-40. 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/irle .

    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.