IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jaitra/v15y2009i6p315-323.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effects of China's airline mergers on prices

Author

Listed:
  • Zhang, Yahua
  • Round, David K.

Abstract

This paper looks at the effects of some of the recent airline mergers in China. Overall, no significant airfare increases are found in a sample of markets served by the merged China Eastern and China Southern after 2002; indeed in most of the markets directly affected airfares declined. This was despite the absence of antitrust laws and enforcement over the period. However, market power was possibly exercised after the mergers in China Eastern's hub-to-hub networks.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Yahua & Round, David K., 2009. "The effects of China's airline mergers on prices," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 15(6), pages 315-323.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jaitra:v:15:y:2009:i:6:p:315-323
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jairtraman.2009.04.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969699709000295
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jairtraman.2009.04.005?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. Kim, E Han & Singal, Vijay, 1993. "Mergers and Market Power: Evidence from the Airline Industry," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(3), pages 549-569, June.
    2. 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.
    3. Corwin D. Edwards, 1955. "Conglomerate Bigness as a Source of Power," NBER Chapters, in: Business Concentration and Price Policy, pages 331-359, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Meyer, Bruce D, 1995. "Natural and Quasi-experiments in Economics," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 13(2), pages 151-161, April.
    5. Borenstein, Severin & Rose, Nancy L, 1995. "Bankruptcy and Pricing Behavior in U.S. Airline Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(2), pages 397-402, May.
    6. Borenstein, Severin, 1990. "Airline Mergers, Airport Dominance, and Market Power," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(2), pages 400-404, May.
    7. Huynh Huynh & Leonard S. Feldt, 1976. "Estimation of the Box Correction for Degrees of Freedom from Sample Data in Randomized Block and Split-Plot Designs," Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, , vol. 1(1), pages 69-82, March.
    8. George J. Stigler, Chairman, Universities-National Bureau Committee for Economic Research, 1955. "Business Concentration and Price Policy," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number univ55-1, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Jiaoe & Mo, Huihui & Wang, Fahui, 2014. "Evolution of air transport network of China 1930–2012," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 145-158.
    2. Steven, Adams B. & Yazdi, Amirhossein Alamdar & Dresner, Martin, 2016. "Mergers and service quality in the airline industry: A silver lining for air travelers?," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 1-13.
    3. Chow, Clement Kong Wing & Tsui, Wai Hong Kan, 2017. "Organizational learning, operating costs and airline consolidation policy in the Chinese airline industry," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 108-118.
    4. Wang, Kun & Fan, Xingli & Fu, Xiaowen & Zhou, Yiran, 2014. "Benchmarking the performance of Chinese airlines: An investigation of productivity, yield and cost competitiveness," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 3-14.
    5. Liu, Han & Ackert, Lucy F. & Chang, Fang & Qi, Li & Shi, Yaojiang, 2021. "Social division, trust, and reciprocity among Chinese inmates," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(3), pages 259-273.
    6. Zhang, Qiong & Yang, Hangjun & Wang, Qiang & Zhang, Anming, 2014. "Market power and its determinants in the Chinese airline industry," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 1-13.
    7. Campos, Javier & Jiménez, Juan Luis & Perdiguero, Jordi, 2015. "Contestability and public concern about airfares: A case study in the Canary Islands," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 180-186.
    8. Chow, Clement Kong Wing & Fung, Michael Ka Yiu, 2012. "Measuring the effects of China’s airline mergers on the productivity of state-owned carriers," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 1-4.
    9. Ma, Wenliang & Wang, Qiang & Yang, Hangjun & Zhang, Anming & Zhang, Yahua, 2019. "Effects of Beijing-Shanghai high-speed rail on air travel: Passenger types, airline groups and tacit collusion," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 64-76.
    10. 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).
    11. Wang, Kun & Zhang, Anming & Zhang, Yahua, 2018. "Key determinants of airline pricing and air travel demand in China and India: Policy, ownership, and LCC competition," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 80-89.
    12. Wing Chow, Clement Kong, 2010. "Measuring the productivity changes of Chinese airlines: The impact of the entries of non-state-owned carriers," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 16(6), pages 320-324.
    13. Tan, Xinlong & Jia, Rongwen & Yan, Jia & Wang, Kun & Bian, Lei, 2021. "An Exploratory analysis of flight delay propagation in China," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    14. Vaze, Vikrant & Luo, Tian & Harder, Reed, 2017. "Impacts of airline mergers on passenger welfare," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 130-154.
    15. Wang, Jiaoe & Mo, Huihui & Wang, Fahui & Jin, Fengjun, 2011. "Exploring the network structure and nodal centrality of China’s air transport network: A complex network approach," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 712-721.

    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. Yahua Zhang & David Round, 2009. "Policy Implications of the Effects of Concentration and Multimarket Contact in China’s Airline Market," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 34(4), pages 307-326, June.
    2. Ma, Wenliang & Wang, Qiang & Yang, Hangjun & Zhang, Yahua, 2020. "Is multimarket contact an antitrust concern? A case of China’s airline market," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 515-526.
    3. de Oliveira, Renan P. & Oliveira, Alessandro V.M., 2021. "Financial distress, survival network design strategies, and airline pricing: An event study of a merger between a bankrupt FSC and an LCC in Brazil," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    4. Yan, Jia & Fu, Xiaowen & Oum, Tae Hoon & Wang, Kun, 2019. "Airline horizontal mergers and productivity: Empirical evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 358-376.
    5. Parise, Gianpaolo, 2018. "Threat of entry and debt maturity: Evidence from airlines," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(2), pages 226-247.
    6. Ma, Wenliang & Wang, Qiang & Yang, Hangjun & Zhang, Yahua, 2020. "Evaluating the price effects of two airline mergers in China," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    7. Khezrimotlagh, Dariush & Kaffash, Sepideh & Zhu, Joe, 2022. "U.S. airline mergers’ performance and productivity change," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    8. Christos Genakos & Andreas Lamprinidis & James Walker, 2023. "Evaluating merger effects," CEP Discussion Papers dp1921, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    9. Desgranges, Gabriel & Gauthier, Stéphane, 2016. "Rationalizability and efficiency in an asymmetric Cournot oligopoly," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 163-176.
    10. Hans Degryse & Steven Ongena, 2004. "The Impact of Competition on Bank Orientation and Specialization (new titel: The impact of competition on bank orientation)," CESifo Working Paper Series 1119, CESifo.
    11. Robert Town & Douglas Wholey & Roger Feldman & Lawton R. Burns, 2006. "The Welfare Consequences of Hospital Mergers," NBER Working Papers 12244, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Ariane Charpin & Joanna Piechucka, 2020. "Merger Efficiency Gains: Evidence from a Large Transport Merger in France," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1843, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    13. Elisa Barbieri & Manli Huang & Shenglei Pi & Mattia Tassinari, 2017. "Restructuring the Production of Medicines: An Investigation on the Pharmaceutical Sector in China and the Role of Mergers and Acquisitions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-21, October.
    14. Bilotkach, Volodymyr & Fageda, Xavier & Flores-Fillol, Ricardo, 2013. "Airline consolidation and the distribution of traffic between primary and secondary hubs," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(6), pages 951-963.
    15. Claudio Agostini, 2005. "El Mercado de Transporte Aéreo: Lecciones para Chile de una Revisión de la Literatura," ILADES-UAH Working Papers inv163, Universidad Alberto Hurtado/School of Economics and Business.
    16. Yi Jiang & Tingting Que & Miaomiao Yu, 2022. "Price asymmetries in the US airline industry," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 57(4), pages 793-814, November.
    17. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2010. "The Credibility Revolution in Empirical Economics: How Better Research Design Is Taking the Con out of Econometrics," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 24(2), pages 3-30, Spring.
    18. Emilie Dargaud, 2013. "Horizontal mergers, efficiency gains and remedies," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 349-372, October.
    19. Böhme Enrico & Müller Christopher, 2011. "Searching for the Concentration-Price Effect in the German Movie Theater Industry," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 231(4), pages 479-493, August.
    20. Huubinh B. Le, 2016. "A retrospective analysis of the competitive effects of the Southwest and Airtran merger in overlapping markets," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 36(3), pages 1650-1655.

    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:jaitra:v:15:y:2009:i:6:p:315-323. 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.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-air-transport-management/ .

    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.