IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reveco/v80y2022icp857-881.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Online or face-to-face? Competition among MOOC and regular education providers

Author

Listed:
  • Han, Haipeng
  • Lien, Donald
  • Lien, Jaimie W.
  • Zheng, Jie

Abstract

Although the importance of online education has long been anticipated, recent conditions in society have accelerated the necessity and popularity of online education by various institutions. We analyze the competition between online and in-person education in a spatial location and pricing game, in which regular education providers located along the Salop circle are competing with online education providers located at the center of the Salop circle. Our model allows education providers to have as their objective, a combination of profits and social welfare considerations. We derive equilibria in a framework with N universities that vary in terms of the composition of online and offline options. Prices, market shares, and social welfare are analyzed in relation to students’ relative preferences for each mode of education, as well as universities’ degree of social welfare considerations. We also consider two main extensions to the model: asymmetric marginal costs of regular universities and MOOCs, and heterogeneity in universities’ objective functions.

Suggested Citation

  • Han, Haipeng & Lien, Donald & Lien, Jaimie W. & Zheng, Jie, 2022. "Online or face-to-face? Competition among MOOC and regular education providers," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 857-881.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:80:y:2022:i:c:p:857-881
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2022.02.061
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059056022000818
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.iref.2022.02.061?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. Kats, Amoz, 1995. "More on Hotelling's stability in competition," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 89-93, March.
    2. Yunchuan Liu & Sunil Gupta & Z. John Zhang, 2006. "Note on Self-Restraint as an Online Entry-Deterrence Strategy," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(11), pages 1799-1809, November.
    3. Erik Brynjolfsson & Michael D. Smith, 2000. "Frictionless Commerce? A Comparison of Internet and Conventional Retailers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 46(4), pages 563-585, April.
    4. Ford, Weixing & Li, Yixiu & Zheng, Jie, 2021. "Numbers of bricks and clicks: Price competition between online and offline stores," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 420-440.
    5. Fleckinger, Pierre & Lafay, Thierry, 2010. "Product flexibility and price competition in Hotelling's duopoly," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 61-68, July.
    6. Boyer, Marcel & Moreaux, Michel, 1993. "Strategic market coverage in spatial competition," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 299-326, September.
    7. Madden Paul & Pezzino Mario, 2011. "Oligopoly on a Salop Circle with Centre," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 11(1), pages 1-30, January.
    8. Emilie Dargaud & Fréedéeric Jouneau-Sion, 2020. "The good MOOC and the universities," Post-Print halshs-02909746, HAL.
    9. Steven C. Salop, 1979. "Monopolistic Competition with Outside Goods," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 141-156, Spring.
    10. Chris Forman & Anindya Ghose & Avi Goldfarb, 2009. "Competition Between Local and Electronic Markets: How the Benefit of Buying Online Depends on Where You Live," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(1), pages 47-57, January.
    11. Michael Kaganovich & Sinan Sarpca & Xuejuan Su, 2020. "Competition in Higher Education: A Survey," CESifo Working Paper Series 8220, CESifo.
    12. Wen-Chung Guo & Fu-Chuan Lai, 2017. "Prices, Locations and Welfare When an Online Retailer Competes with Heterogeneous Brick-and-Mortar Retailers," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(2), pages 439-468, June.
    13. Fleckinger, Pierre & Lafay, Thierry, 2010. "Product flexibility and price competition in Hotelling's duopoly," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 61-68, July.
    14. Emilie Dargaud & Fréedéeric Jouneau-Sion, 2020. "The good MOOC and the universities," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(5), pages 474-490, September.
    15. Sridhar Balasubramanian, 1998. "Mail versus Mall: A Strategic Analysis of Competition between Direct Marketers and Conventional Retailers," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(3), pages 181-195.
    16. Li, Mingzhi & Lien, Jaimie W. & Zheng, Jie, 2021. "Optimal subsidies in the competition between private and state-owned enterprises," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 1235-1244.
    17. Chen, Pu & Chen, Yijuan & Hu, Xiangting & Li, Sanxi, 2015. "Can online markets attract high-quality products?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 65-71.
    18. Behringer, Stefan & Filistrucchi, Lapo, 2015. "Hotelling competition and political differentiation with more than two newspapers," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 36-49.
    19. Hernandez, Manuel A., 2011. "Nonlinear pricing and competition intensity in a Hotelling-type model with discrete product and consumer types," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 110(3), pages 174-177, March.
    20. Chen, Yijuan & Hu, Xiangting & Li, Sanxi, 2017. "Quality differentiation and firms’ choices between online and physical markets," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 96-132.
    21. Guo, Wen-Chung & Lai, Fu-Chuan & Zeng, Dao-Zhi, 2015. "A Hotelling model with production," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 40-49.
    22. Oksana Loginova, 2009. "Real And Virtual Competition," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(2), pages 319-342, 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. Huang, Naqun & Lien, Jaimie W. & Zheng, Jie, 2023. "To acquire or compete? Government intervention in transportation under different route structures," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    2. Lifang Qiao & Yichuan Zhang, 2022. "Analysis of MOOC Quality Requirements for Landscape Architecture Based on the KANO Model in the Context of the COVID-19 Epidemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-17, November.
    3. He, Wei & Li, Mingzhi & Zheng, Jie, 2023. "Switching cost, network externality and platform competition," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 428-443.

    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. Ford, Weixing & Li, Yixiu & Zheng, Jie, 2021. "Numbers of bricks and clicks: Price competition between online and offline stores," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 420-440.
    2. Wen-Chung Guo & Fu-Chuan Lai, 2017. "Prices, Locations and Welfare When an Online Retailer Competes with Heterogeneous Brick-and-Mortar Retailers," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(2), pages 439-468, June.
    3. Yijuan Chen & Xiangting Hu & Sanxi Li, 2022. "Complementarity between online and offline channels for quality signaling," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 135(1), pages 49-74, January.
    4. Jeffrey D. Shulman, 2014. "Product Diversion to a Direct Competitor," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 33(3), pages 422-436, May.
    5. Chris Forman & Anindya Ghose & Avi Goldfarb, 2009. "Competition Between Local and Electronic Markets: How the Benefit of Buying Online Depends on Where You Live," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(1), pages 47-57, January.
    6. Bing Jing, 2018. "Showrooming and Webrooming: Information Externalities Between Online and Offline Sellers," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 37(3), pages 469-483, May.
    7. Barrie R. Nault & Mohammad S. Rahman, 2019. "Proximity to a Traditional Physical Store: The Effects of Mitigating Online Disutility Costs," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 28(4), pages 1033-1051, April.
    8. Stefano Colombo & Zemin Hou, 2021. "Location-Price Equilibria when Traditional Retailers Compete Against an Online Retailer," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 59(3), pages 483-502, November.
    9. Mingming Shi & Jun Zhou & Zhou Jiang, 2019. "Consumer heterogeneity and online vs. offline retail spatial competition," Frontiers of Business Research in China, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 1-19, December.
    10. Avi Goldfarb, 2014. "What is Different About Online Advertising?," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 44(2), pages 115-129, March.
    11. Bourreau, Marc & Manenti, Fabio M., 2023. "Selling cross-border in online markets: The impact of the ban on geoblocking strategies," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    12. Haiyan Wang & Tatsuhiko Nariu, 2012. "Distribution Channel Management in an Internet Age: Equilibrium and Social Welfare," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 285-298, September.
    13. van Raalte, Chris & Webers, Harry, 1998. "Spatial competition with intermediated matching," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 477-488, March.
    14. O. Loginova & A. Mantovani, 2015. "Information and Online Reviews," Working Papers wp996, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    15. Francisco Jesús Guerrero López & Paula Margaretic & Lucía Quesada & Federico Sturzenegger, 2024. "Banks or Fintechs? A Roadmap for Regulation," Working Papers 327, Red Nacional de Investigadores en Economía (RedNIE).
    16. Patrick Legros & Konrad Stahl, 2019. "Local Search Markets and External Competition," Working Papers ECARES 2019-13, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    17. Bang, Se Hoon & Kim, Jaesoo, 2013. "Price discrimination via information provision," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 215-224.
    18. Herweg, Fabian & Helfrich, Magdalena, 2017. "Salience in Retailing: Vertical Restraints on Internet Sales," CEPR Discussion Papers 11948, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. Siva Viswanathan, 2005. "Competing Across Technology-Differentiated Channels: The Impact of Network Externalities and Switching Costs," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 51(3), pages 483-496, March.
    20. Xinxin Li & Bin Gu & Hongju Liu, 2013. "Price Dispersion and Loss-Leader Pricing: Evidence from the Online Book Industry," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(6), pages 1290-1308, June.

    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:reveco:v:80:y:2022:i:c:p:857-881. 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/620165 .

    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.