IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/revind/v50y2017i2d10.1007_s11151-016-9559-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Resale Price Maintenance: An Economic Analysis of its Anticompetitive Potential

Author

Listed:
  • Roger D. Blair

    (University of Florida)

  • Wenche Wang

    (University of Florida)

Abstract

A decade ago, Leegin overruled Dr. Miles and subjected RPM to rule-of-reason treatment, under which the potential for anticompetitive conduct should be analyzed (rather than automatically assumed to be present). In its Leegin decision, the Supreme Court identified four ways in which RPM could be used to retard competition and consequently reduce consumer welfare: The first two involve the well-known concerns that RPM could be used to support either a manufacturer cartel or a dealer cartel; the last two involve unilateral conduct designed to foreclose entry or hinder smaller rivals. In this paper, we analyze these potentially harmful uses of RPM. We conclude that RPM does not pose a substantial anticompetitive threat.

Suggested Citation

  • Roger D. Blair & Wenche Wang, 2017. "Resale Price Maintenance: An Economic Analysis of its Anticompetitive Potential," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 50(2), pages 153-168, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:revind:v:50:y:2017:i:2:d:10.1007_s11151-016-9559-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s11151-016-9559-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11151-016-9559-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11151-016-9559-3?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. Jonathan H. Hamilton, 1990. "Resale price maintenance in a model of consumer search," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(2), pages 87-98, May.
    2. Lawrence J. White, 1972. "Quality Variation When Prices Are Regulated," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 3(2), pages 425-436, Autumn.
    3. George J. Stigler, 1968. "Price and Non-Price Competition," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 76(1), pages 149-149.
    4. Ralph A. Winter, 1993. "Vertical Control and Price Versus Nonprice Competition," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(1), pages 61-76.
    5. Benjamin Klein, 2014. "The Evolving Law and Economics of Resale Price Maintenance," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(S3), pages 161-179.
    6. Howard P. Marvel & Stephen McCafferty, 1984. "Resale Price Maintenance and Quality Certification," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 15(3), pages 346-359, Autumn.
    7. G.F. Mathewson & R.A. Winter, 1984. "An Economic Theory of Vertical Restraints," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 15(1), pages 27-38, Spring.
    8. John Asker & Heski Bar-Isaac, 2014. "Raising Retailers' Profits: On Vertical Practices and the Exclusion of Rivals," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(2), pages 672-686, February.
    9. Bruno Jullien & Patrick Rey, 2007. "Resale price maintenance and collusion," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 38(4), pages 983-1001, December.
    10. Marvel, Howard P & McCafferty, Stephen, 1985. "The Welfare Effects of Resale Price Maintenance," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 28(2), pages 363-379, May.
    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. Bakó, Barna & Kálecz-Simon, András, 2012. "Vertikális korlátozások - növelik vagy csökkentik a jólétet?. Érvek az irodalomból [Vertical constraints - do they increase or reduce welfare?. Arguments in the literature]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(10), pages 1138-1159.
    2. Foros, Øystein & Kind, Hans Jarle & Shaffer, Greg, 2011. "Resale price maintenance and restrictions on dominant firm and industry-wide adoption," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 179-186, March.
    3. Ingene, Charles A. & Parry, Mark E. & Xu, Zibin, 2020. "Resale Price Maintenance: Customer Service Without Free Riding," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 96(4), pages 563-577.
    4. Staahl Gabrielsen, Tommy & Johansen, Bjørn Olav & Shaffer, Greg, 2018. "When is Double Marginalization a Problem?," Working Papers in Economics 7/18, University of Bergen, Department of Economics.
    5. Kenji, Matsui, 2011. "Resale price maintenance for supply chains distributing products with demand uncertainty," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(2), pages 375-387, December.
    6. Foros, Øystein & Kind, Hans Jarle & Shaffer, Greg, 2015. "Apple's Agency Model and the Role of Resale Price Maintenance," Discussion Papers 2015/32, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Business and Management Science.
    7. Marcel Boyer & Thomas W. Ross & Ralph A. Winter, 2017. "The rise of economics in competition policy: A Canadian perspective," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 50(5), pages 1489-1524, December.
    8. Dertwinkel-Kalt, Markus & Wey, Christian, 2023. "Resale price maintenance in a successive monopoly model," DICE Discussion Papers 395, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    9. Dertwinkel-Kalt, Markus & Wey, Christian, 2021. "Multi-Product Pricing and Minimum Resale Price Maintenance," VfS Annual Conference 2021 (Virtual Conference): Climate Economics 242338, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    10. Ayelet Israeli & Eric T. Anderson & Anne T. Coughlan, 2016. "Minimum Advertised Pricing: Patterns of Violation in Competitive Retail Markets," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(4), pages 539-564, July.
    11. Ralph A. Winter, 2009. "Presidential Address: Antitrust restrictions on single-firm strategies," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 42(4), pages 1207-1239, November.
    12. Bang, Se Hoon & Jin, Yangsoo, 2015. "Brand-specificity of pre-sale services and inter-brand competition with resale price maintenance," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 1-9.
    13. John Asker & Heski Bar-Isaac, 2020. "Vertical Information Restraints: Pro- and Anticompetitive Impacts of Minimum-Advertised-Price Restrictions," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 63(1), pages 111-148.
    14. Robert Innes & Stephen F. Hamilton, 2009. "Vertical restraints and horizontal control," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 40(1), pages 120-143, March.
    15. Tarcisio da Graça & Robert Masson, 2017. "Flawed Economic Models Have Misled RPM Policy: Changes in Canada, Europe and the United States," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 50(2), pages 181-207, March.
    16. Markus Dertwinkel‐Kalt & Mats Köster, 2022. "Attention to online sales: The role of brand image concerns," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 64-89, February.
    17. Xiao, Ping & (Jack) Chen, Xinlei & Chen, Yuxin & Lu, Wei, 2021. "Violation behavior in vertical restraint: Empirical analyses in the case of retail price maintenance," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 953-973.
    18. Matthias Hunold & Johannes Muthers, 2017. "Resale price maintenance and manufacturer competition for retail services," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 48(1), pages 3-23, March.
    19. Martimort, David & Piccolo, Salvatore, 2007. "Resale price maintenance under asymmetric information," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 315-339, April.
    20. Wang, Hao, 2004. "Resale price maintenance in an oligopoly with uncertain demand," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 389-411, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Antitrust; Resale price maintenance; Verticle agreements;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L42 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Vertical Restraints; Resale Price Maintenance; Quantity Discounts

    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:kap:revind:v:50:y:2017:i:2:d:10.1007_s11151-016-9559-3. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.