IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jetheo/v220y2024ics0022053124000887.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Consumer heterogeneity and inefficiency in oligopoly markets

Author

Listed:
  • Tan, Guofu
  • Zhou, Junjie

Abstract

Motivated by several recent studies on oligopolistic markets with consumer heterogeneity, we characterize the geometric properties of a class of inequalities involving the product of two integrals of the probability density quantile function and its reciprocal. Through three applications, we illustrate how our characterization can help enrich our understanding of the existing findings and shed some new insights, regarding the extent to which consumer welfare and social efficiency depend on the properties of the distributions of consumer valuation heterogeneity.

Suggested Citation

  • Tan, Guofu & Zhou, Junjie, 2024. "Consumer heterogeneity and inefficiency in oligopoly markets," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jetheo:v:220:y:2024:i:c:s0022053124000887
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jet.2024.105882
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022053124000887
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jet.2024.105882?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. Jeffrey M. Perloff & Steven C. Salop, 1985. "Equilibrium with Product Differentiation," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 52(1), pages 107-120.
    2. Mark Bagnoli & Ted Bergstrom, 2006. "Log-concave probability and its applications," Studies in Economic Theory, in: Charalambos D. Aliprantis & Rosa L. Matzkin & Daniel L. McFadden & James C. Moore & Nicholas C. Yann (ed.), Rationality and Equilibrium, pages 217-241, Springer.
    3. Kai Hao Yang & Alexander K. Zentefis, 2023. "Monotone Function Intervals: Theory and Applications," Papers 2302.03135, arXiv.org, revised Apr 2024.
    4. Andreas Kleiner & Benny Moldovanu & Philipp Strack, 2021. "Extreme Points and Majorization: Economic Applications," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 89(4), pages 1557-1593, July.
    5. Simon P. Anderson & Regis Renault, 1999. "Pricing, Product Diversity, and Search Costs: A Bertrand-Chamberlin-Diamond Model," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 30(4), pages 719-735, Winter.
    6. Anderson, Simon P & de Palma, Andre & Nesterov, Yurii, 1995. "Oligopolistic Competition and the Optimal Provision of Products," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 63(6), pages 1281-1301, November.
    7. Rhodes, Andrew & Zhou, Jidong, 2022. "Personalized Pricing and Competition," TSE Working Papers 22-1333, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Mar 2024.
    8. Jidong Zhou, 2017. "Competitive Bundling," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 85, pages 145-172, January.
    9. Guofu Tan & Junjie Zhou, 2021. "The Effects of Competition and Entry in Multi-sided Markets," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 88(2), pages 1002-1030.
    10. Caplin, Andrew & Nalebuff, Barry, 1991. "Aggregation and Imperfect Competition: On the Existence of Equilibrium," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 59(1), pages 25-59, January.
    11. Andrew Rhodes & Jidong Zhou, 2024. "Personalized Pricing and Competition," Post-Print hal-04691711, HAL.
    12. Andrew Rhodes & Jidong Zhou, 2024. "Personalized Pricing and Competition," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 114(7), pages 2141-2170, July.
    13. N. Gregory Mankiw & Michael D. Whinston, 1986. "Free Entry and Social Inefficiency," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 17(1), pages 48-58, Spring.
    14. Christian Ewerhart, 2013. "Regular type distributions in mechanism design and $$\rho $$ -concavity," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 53(3), pages 591-603, August.
    15. Quint, Daniel, 2014. "Imperfect competition with complements and substitutes," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 266-290.
    16. Kai Hao Yang & Alexander K. Zentefis, 2024. "Monotone Function Intervals: Theory and Applications," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 114(8), pages 2239-2270, 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. Zhou, Jidong, 2021. "Mixed bundling in oligopoly markets," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    2. Rhodes, Andrew & Zhou, Jidong, 2022. "Personalized Pricing and Competition," MPRA Paper 112988, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Thanassoulis, John, 2018. "The I.O. of ethics and cheating when consumers do not have rational expectations," CEPR Discussion Papers 13172, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Shuai, Jie & Yang, Huanxing & Zhang, Lan, 2022. "Dominant firm and competitive bundling in oligopoly markets," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 421-447.
    5. Mark Armstrong & Jidong Zhou, 2022. "Consumer Information and the Limits to Competition," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(2), pages 534-577, February.
    6. Nathan Larson, 2013. "Niche products, generic products, and consumer search," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 52(2), pages 793-832, March.
    7. Jidong Zhou, 2017. "Competitive Bundling," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 85, pages 145-172, January.
    8. Konishi, Hideo, 2005. "Concentration of competing retail stores," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(3), pages 488-512, November.
    9. Makoto Hanazono & Noritaka Kudoh, 2024. "Prominence And Market Power: Asymmetric Oligopoly With Sequential Consumer Search," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 65(3), pages 1249-1281, August.
    10. Moraga-González, José L. & Sándor, Zsolt & Wildenbeest, Matthijs R., 2014. "Prices, Product Differentiation, And Heterogeneous Search Costs," IESE Research Papers D/1097, IESE Business School.
    11. Alexandre de Corniere, 2013. "Search Advertising," Economics Series Working Papers 649, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    12. Andrew Rhodes & Jidong Zhou, 2019. "Consumer Search and Retail Market Structure," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(6), pages 2607-2623, June.
    13. Schweizer, Nikolaus & Szech, Nora, 2015. "A quantitative version of Myerson regularity," Working Paper Series in Economics 76, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Department of Economics and Management.
    14. Melo, Emerson, 2014. "Price competition, free entry, and welfare in congested markets," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 53-72.
    15. Anderson, Simon P. & de Palma, Andre, 1999. "Reverse discrete choice models," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(6), pages 745-764, November.
    16. Anderson, Simon P. & de Palma, Andre, 2000. "From local to global competition," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 423-448, March.
    17. E. Glen Weyl & Michal Fabinger, 2013. "Pass-Through as an Economic Tool: Principles of Incidence under Imperfect Competition," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 121(3), pages 528-583.
    18. Michal Fabinger & E. Glen Weyl, 2018. "Functional Forms for Tractable Economic Models and the Cost Structure of International Trade," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1092, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    19. Marco A. Haan & José L. Moraga‐González, 2011. "Advertising for Attention in a Consumer Search Model," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(552), pages 552-579, May.
    20. Enache, Andreea & Florens, Jean-Pierre, 2024. "Quantile analysis of “hazard-rate” game models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 238(2).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Probability density quantile; Discrete choice model; Consumer heterogeneity; Log-concavity; Free entry; Efficiency; Competitive bundling; Multi-sided markets;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L4 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies

    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:jetheo:v:220:y:2024:i:c:s0022053124000887. 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/622869 .

    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.