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When is the Price Cost Margin a Safe Way to Measure Changes in Competition?

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  • Jan Boone
  • Jan Ours
  • Henry Wiel

Abstract

The price cost margin (PCM) is a popular way to measure competition. Although we know that this measure is not without problems, we actually do not know how often and under which conditions a change in PCM points in the wrong direction. We use a new competition measure, the profit elasticity, which is more robust than PCM. Our empirical analysis based on Dutch data shows that when competition changes the probability that PCM points in the wrong direction increases with industry concentration. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Jan Boone & Jan Ours & Henry Wiel, 2013. "When is the Price Cost Margin a Safe Way to Measure Changes in Competition?," De Economist, Springer, vol. 161(1), pages 45-67, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:decono:v:161:y:2013:i:1:p:45-67
    DOI: 10.1007/s10645-012-9196-7
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    9. Raymond W. & Plotnikova T., 2015. "How does firms' perceived competition affect technological innovation in Luxembourg?," MERIT Working Papers 2015-001, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    10. De Bonis, Riccardo & Marinelli, Giuseppe & Vercelli, Francesco, 2018. "Playing yo-yo with bank competition: New evidence from 1890 to 2014," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 134-151.
    11. Iryna Okolelova & Jacob A. Bikker, 2022. "The single supervisory mechanism: Competitive implications for the banking sectors in the euro area," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(2), pages 1818-1835, April.
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    16. van Leuvensteijn, Michiel & Huljak, Ivan & de Bondt, Gabe, 2024. "A new measure of firm-level competition: an application to euro area banks," Working Paper Series 2925, European Central Bank.
    17. Michele Benvenuti & Silvia Del Prete, 2019. "A profit elasticity approach to measure banking competition in Italian credit markets," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1237, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
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    21. Hussain Khan, Habib & Kutan, Ali M., 2023. "Banking sector competition and firms’ financial constraints: Firm-Level evidence from developing economies," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Competition; Profit elasticity; Price cost margin; Measures of competition; Concentration; D43; L13;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets

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