IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/joecth/v27y2006i2p393-410.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The micro-foundations of intertemporal price discrimination

Author

Listed:
  • Winston Koh

Abstract

This paper investigates the optimality of intertemporal price discrimination for a durable-good monopoly in a model where infinitely-lived households face an intertemporal budget constraint, and consume both durable goods and non-durable goods. We prove that the optimal price of the durable good is not constant, and may decrease or increase over time. Some households may choose to purchase the durable good at a later date, and pay lower or higher prices, since the gain in discounted utility of consuming more of the non-durable good more than compensates for the loss in utility from delaying the consumption of the durable good. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin/Heidelberg 2006

Suggested Citation

  • Winston Koh, 2006. "The micro-foundations of intertemporal price discrimination," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 27(2), pages 393-410, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joecth:v:27:y:2006:i:2:p:393-410
    DOI: 10.1007/s00199-005-0599-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s00199-005-0599-4
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s00199-005-0599-4?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 look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ausubel, Lawrence M & Deneckere, Raymond J, 1989. "Reputation in Bargaining and Durable Goods Monopoly," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 57(3), pages 511-531, May.
    2. van Praag, Bernard & Bode, Ben, 1992. "Retail pricing and the costs of clearance sales : The formalisation of a rule of thumb," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 945-962, May.
    3. Rustichini, Aldo & Villamil, Anne P, 1996. "Intertemporal Pricing in Markets with Differential Information," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 8(2), pages 211-227, August.
    4. Larry M. Ausubel & Raymond J. Deneckere, 1989. "Reputation in Bargaining and Durable Goods Monopoly," Levine's Working Paper Archive 201, David K. Levine.
    5. Nancy L. Stokey, 1981. "Rational Expectations and Durable Goods Pricing," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 12(1), pages 112-128, Spring.
    6. Joel Sobel, 1984. "The Timing of Sales," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 51(3), pages 353-368.
    7. Suslow, Valerie Y., 1986. "Commitment and monopoly pricing in durable goods models," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 4(4), pages 451-460, December.
    8. Aldo Rustichini & Anne P. Villamil, 2000. "Intertemporal pricing in laboratory posted offer markets with differential information," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 16(3), pages 613-637.
    9. Ault, Richard W, et al, 2000. "Rebates, Inventories, and Intertemporal Price Discrimination," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 38(4), pages 570-578, October.
    10. Nancy L. Stokey, 1979. "Intertemporal Price Discrimination," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 93(3), pages 355-371.
    11. Sobel, Joel, 1991. "Durable Goods Monopoly with Entry of New Consumers," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 59(5), pages 1455-1485, September.
    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. Daniel Melser & Iqbal A. Syed, 2017. "The product life cycle and sample representativity bias in price indexes," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(6), pages 573-586, February.
    2. Daniel Melser & Iqbal A. Syed, 2016. "Life Cycle Price Trends and Product Replacement: Implications for the Measurement of Inflation," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 62(3), pages 509-533, September.
    3. Qu, Zhan & Raff, Horst & Schmitt, Nicolas, 2018. "Incentives through inventory control in supply chains," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 486-513.
    4. Artyom Shneyerov, 2014. "An optimal slow Dutch auction," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 57(3), pages 577-602, November.
    5. Lou, Weifang & Prentice, David & Yin, Xiangkang, 2012. "What difference does dynamics make? The case of digital cameras," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 30-40.
    6. Tian Xia & Richard Sexton, 2010. "Brand or Variety Choices and Periodic Sales as Substitute Instruments for Monopoly Price Discrimination," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 36(4), pages 333-349, June.
    7. Iqbal Syed & Daniel Melser, 2008. "Prices over the Product Life Cycle: An Empirical Analysis," Discussion Papers 2008-25, School of Economics, The University of New South Wales.
    8. Eduardo Correia de Souza & Jorge Chami Batista, 2015. "Replacement cycles, income distribution and dynamic price discrimination," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(31), pages 3292-3310, July.
    9. Melser, Daniel & Syed, Iqbal, 2007. "Life Cycle Pricing and the Measurement of Inflation," MPRA Paper 16722, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 07 Jul 2008.
    10. Runco Mariano G, 2010. "A Note on the Multidimensional Monopolist Problem and Intertemporal Price Discrimination," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-8, August.
    11. Hikmet Gunay, 2014. "Waiting for Signaling Quality," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 81(2), pages 364-386, October.

    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. Tian Xia & Richard Sexton, 2010. "Brand or Variety Choices and Periodic Sales as Substitute Instruments for Monopoly Price Discrimination," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 36(4), pages 333-349, June.
    2. Arieh Gavious & Ella Segev, 2017. "Price Discrimination Based on Buyers’ Purchase History," Dynamic Games and Applications, Springer, vol. 7(2), pages 229-265, June.
    3. Doval, Laura & Skreta, Vasiliki, 2024. "Optimal mechanism for the sale of a durable good," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 19(2), May.
    4. Xuanming Su, 2007. "Intertemporal Pricing with Strategic Customer Behavior," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(5), pages 726-741, May.
    5. James J. Anton & Gary Biglaiser, 2010. "Quality, Upgrades, and Equilibrium in a Dynamic Monopoly Model," Working Papers 10-36, Duke University, Department of Economics.
    6. James J. Anton & Gary Biglaiser, 2007. "Quality Upgrades and the (loss) of Market Power in a Dynamic Monopoly Model," Working Papers 18, Portuguese Competition Authority.
    7. Mason, Robin, 2000. "Network externalities and the Coase conjecture," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(10), pages 1981-1992, December.
    8. Cabral, Luis M. B. & Salant, David J. & Woroch, Glenn A., 1999. "Monopoly pricing with network externalities," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 199-214, February.
    9. Francesco Nava & Pasquale Schiraldi, 2019. "Differentiated Durable Goods Monopoly: A Robust Coase Conjecture," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(5), pages 1930-1968, May.
    10. Anton, James J. & Biglaiser, Gary, 2013. "Quality, upgrades and equilibrium in a dynamic monopoly market," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 148(3), pages 1179-1212.
    11. Buehler, Stefan & Eschenbaum, Nicolas, 2021. "Dynamic Monopoly Pricing With Multiple Varieties: Trading Up," Economics Working Paper Series 2113, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    12. Sallstrom, Susanna, 2001. "Fashion and sales," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 19(9), pages 1363-1385, November.
    13. Ngo Long, 2015. "Dynamic Games Between Firms and Infinitely Lived Consumers: A Review of the Literature," Dynamic Games and Applications, Springer, vol. 5(4), pages 467-492, December.
    14. Basak Altan, 2020. "Dynamic Durable Goods Monopoly and Market Power," Games, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-14, May.
    15. Takeyama, Lisa N, 1997. "The Intertemporal Consequences of Unauthorized Reproduction of Intellectual Property," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 40(2), pages 511-522, October.
    16. Chang, Dongkyu & Lee, Jong Jae, 2022. "Price skimming: Commitment and delay in bargaining with outside option," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    17. Abreu, Dilip & Pearce, David G. & Stacchetti, Ennio, 2015. "One-sided uncertainty and delay in reputational bargaining," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 10(3), September.
    18. Prajit Dutta & Alexander Matros & Jörgen W. Weibull, 2007. "Long-run price competition," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 38(2), pages 291-313, June.
    19. Winston T. H. Koh, 2005. "Household Demand, Network Externality Effects and Intertemporal Price Discrimination," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 84(1), pages 49-69, February.
    20. Ortner, Juan, 2017. "Durable goods monopoly with stochastic costs," Theoretical Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 12(2), May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Intertemporal price discrimination; Durable good monopoly; Optimal pricing strategy; Household demand.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D40 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - General
    • D42 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Monopoly
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making

    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:spr:joecth:v:27:y:2006:i:2:p:393-410. 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.