IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jaitra/v44-45y2015ip25-33.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Dynamic effect of inter-firm rivalry on airfares: Case of Japan's full-service and new air carriers

Author

Listed:
  • Murakami, Hideki
  • Amano, Yoshihisa
  • Asahi, Ryota

Abstract

This paper analyzes the dynamic changes in carriers' airfares and outputs and computes the change in the consumers' surplus year by year after new Japanese carriers entered thriving routes and started to compete with Japanese full-service airlines. Using unbalanced panel data from 222 routes and carrier specific sample observations, it finds that new carriers discounted airfares significantly as soon as they entered new markets, but two early carriers, Skymark Airlines and AIRDO, which had entered with very low airfares, raised their prices year by year. On the other hand, both All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines responded to the new entrants and lowered their airfares to a much lesser extent than the new entrants did, and their airfare levels remained almost unchanged for at least four years after the first entry. The consumers' surplus increased significantly in the first year of each new entry but gradually decreased as the new entrants raised their airfares.

Suggested Citation

  • Murakami, Hideki & Amano, Yoshihisa & Asahi, Ryota, 2015. "Dynamic effect of inter-firm rivalry on airfares: Case of Japan's full-service and new air carriers," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 44, pages 25-33.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jaitra:v:44-45:y:2015:i::p:25-33
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jairtraman.2015.02.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969699715000162
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jairtraman.2015.02.002?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. Cristian Huse & Alessandro V. M. Oliveira, 2012. "Does Product Differentiation Soften Price Reactions to Entry? Evidence from the Airline Industry," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 46(2), pages 189-204, May.
    2. Brander, James A. & Zhang, Anming, 1993. "Dynamic oligopoly behaviour in the airline industry," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 407-435, September.
    3. Hideki Murakami, 2011. "Empirical Analysis Of Inter‐Firm Rivalry Between Japanese Full‐Service And Low‐Cost Carriers," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(1), pages 103-119, February.
    4. Hideki Murakami & Ryota Asahi, 2011. "An Empirical Analysis Of The Effect Of Multimarket Contacts On Us Air Carriers' Pricing Behaviors," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 56(04), pages 593-600.
    5. Austan Goolsbee & Chad Syverson, 2008. "How Do Incumbents Respond to the Threat of Entry? Evidence from the Major Airlines," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(4), pages 1611-1633.
    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. Oliveira, Alessandro V.M. & Huse, Cristian, 2009. "Localized competitive advantage and price reactions to entry: Full-service vs. low-cost airlines in recently liberalized emerging markets," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 307-320, March.
    8. Joris Pinkse & Margaret E. Slade & Craig Brett, 2002. "Spatial Price Competition: A Semiparametric Approach," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 70(3), pages 1111-1153, May.
    9. D. E. Pitfield, 2005. "Some Speculations and Empirical Evidence on the Oligopolistic Behaviour of Competing Low-Cost Airlines," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 39(3), pages 379-390, September.
    10. Marco Alderighi & Alessandro Cento & Peter Nijkamp & Piet Rietveld, 2004. "The Entry of Low-Cost Airlines: Price Competition in the European Airline Market," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 04-074/3, Tinbergen Institute.
    11. Steven Puller, 2009. "Estimation of competitive conduct when firms are efficiently colluding: addressing the Corts critique," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(15), pages 1497-1500.
    12. James A. Brander & Anming Zhang, 1990. "Market Conduct in the Airline Industry: An Empirical Investigation," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 21(4), pages 567-583, Winter.
    13. Murakami, Hideki, 2011. "Time effect of low-cost carrier entry and social welfare in US large air markets," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 306-314, May.
    14. Brueckner, Jan K. & Lee, Darin & Singer, Ethan S., 2013. "Airline competition and domestic US airfares: A comprehensivereappraisal," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 1-17.
    15. Hideki Murakami & Ryota Asahi, 2011. "An empirical analysis of the effect of multimarket contacts on air carriers' pricing behaviors: A case of the U.S," Discussion Papers 2011-35, Kobe University, Graduate School of Business Administration.
    16. Pitfield, D.E., 2008. "The Southwest effect: A time-series analysis on passengers carried by selected routes and a market share comparison," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 113-122.
    17. Berry, Steven & Levinsohn, James & Pakes, Ariel, 1995. "Automobile Prices in Market Equilibrium," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 63(4), pages 841-890, July.
    18. Pinkse, Joris & Slade, Margaret E., 2004. "Mergers, brand competition, and the price of a pint," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 617-643, June.
    19. Margaret E. Slade, 2004. "Market Power and Joint Dominance in U.K. Brewing," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(1), pages 133-163, March.
    20. Thorsten Fischer & David R. Kamerschen, 2003. "Price-Cost Margins in the US Airline Industry using a Conjectural Variation Approach," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 37(2), pages 227-259, May.
    21. Steven A. Morrison, 2001. "Actual, Adjacent, and Potential Competition Estimating the Full Effect of Southwest Airlines," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 35(2), pages 239-256, May.
    22. Douglas W. Caves & Laurits R. Christensen & Michael W. Tretheway, 1984. "Economies of Density versus Economies of Scale: Why Trunk and Local Service Airline Costs Differ," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 15(4), pages 471-489, Winter.
    23. Fu, Xiaowen & Dresner, Martin & Oum, Tae H., 2011. "Effects of transport service differentiation in the US domestic airline market," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 297-305, May.
    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. Ng, Kam To & Fu, Xiaowen & Hanaoka, Shinya & Oum, Tae Hoon, 2022. "Japanese aviation market performance during the COVID-19 pandemic - Analyzing airline yield and competition in the domestic market," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 237-247.
    2. Takebayashi, Mikio & Onishi, Masamitsu, 2018. "Managing reliever gateway airports with high-speed rail network," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 133-146.
    3. Ng, Kam To & Fu, Xiaowen & Lee, Jaewoon & Yamaguchi, Katsuhiro & Zhu, Chuanyan, 2023. "The Effects of Bankruptcy on Airline Yield and Frequency: The case of the duopolistic domestic market in Japan," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 28-36.
    4. Asahi, Ryota & Murakami, Hideki, 2017. "Effects of Southwest Airlines' entry and airport dominance," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(PA), pages 86-90.
    5. Minato, Nobuaki & Morimoto, Risako, 2017. "Dynamically interdependent business model for airline–airport coexistence," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(PB), pages 161-172.

    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. Hideki Murakami & Yoshihisa Amano, 2013. "Dynamic effect of inter-airline rivalry on airfares and consumers' welfare: Japan' s full-service vs. new air carriers," Discussion Papers 2013-31, Kobe University, Graduate School of Business Administration.
    2. Hideki Murakami, 2010. "Time Effect of Low-Cost Carrier Entry and Social Welfare in US Large Air Markets," Discussion Papers 2010-31, Kobe University, Graduate School of Business Administration.
    3. Asahi, Ryota & Murakami, Hideki, 2017. "Effects of Southwest Airlines' entry and airport dominance," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(PA), pages 86-90.
    4. 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.
    5. Ruiz-Moreno, Felipe & Mas-Ruiz, Francisco J. & Sancho-Esper, Franco M., 2021. "Strategic groups and product differentiation: Evidence from the Spanish airline market deregulation," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    6. Su, Min & Luan, Weixin & Fu, Xiaowen & Yang, Zaili & Zhang, Rui, 2020. "The competition effects of low-cost carriers and high-speed rail on the Chinese aviation market," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 37-46.
    7. Bernardo, Valeria & Fageda, Xavier, 2020. "Impacts of competition on connecting travelers: Evidence from the transatlantic aviation market," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 141-151.
    8. Hideki Murakami, 2009. "Low-Cost Entry, Inter-Firm Rivalry, and Welfare Implications in US Large Air Markets," Discussion Papers 2009-25, Kobe University, Graduate School of Business Administration.
    9. Borsati, Mattia & Fageda, Xavier, 2024. "Airline price responses in the face of demand shocks: European lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    10. Varella, Rafael R. & Frazão, Jessica & Oliveira, Alessandro V.M., 2017. "Dynamic pricing and market segmentation responses to low-cost carrier entry," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 151-170.
    11. Hideki Murakami, 2012. "Dynamic Effect of Low-Cost Entry on the Conduct Parameter: An Early-Stage Analysis of Southwest Airlines and America West Airlines," Discussion Papers 2012-25, Kobe University, Graduate School of Business Administration.
    12. 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).
    13. Fageda, Xavier, 2014. "What hurts the dominant airlines at hub airports?," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 177-189.
    14. Victor Aguirregabiria & Margaret Slade, 2017. "Empirical models of firms and industries," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 50(5), pages 1445-1488, December.
    15. Kerkemezos, Yannis & Pennings, Enrico & Karreman, Bas & van Reeven, Peran, 2023. "Price asymmetries and the path dependence of market power: Evidence from the U.S. airline industry," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    16. Mizutani, Jun & Sakai, Hiroki, 2021. "Which is a stronger competitor, High Speed Rail, or Low Cost Carrier, to Full Service Carrier? – Effects of HSR network extension and LCC entry on FSC's airfare in Japan," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    17. Philip G. Gayle & Xin Xie, 2018. "Entry Deterrence And Strategic Alliances," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 56(3), pages 1898-1924, July.
    18. Ma, Wenliang & Wang, Qiang & Yang, Hangjun & Zhang, Guoquan & Zhang, Yahua, 2020. "Understanding airline price dispersion in the presence of high-speed rail," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 93-102.
    19. Kuljanin, Jovana & Kalić, Milica & Begović, Boris & Mijović, Nemanja & Renold, Manuel, 2021. "The effect of LCC market entry on dominant FSC's price into long haul sector: A case of Norwegian competition on British Airways' prices on selected transatlantic routes," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    20. Zhang, Qiong & Yang, Hangjun & Wang, Qiang & Zhang, Anming & Zhang, Yahua, 2020. "Impact of high-speed rail on market concentration and Lerner index in China's airline market," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).

    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:44-45:y:2015:i::p:25-33. 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.