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Product market competition with differentiated goods and social welfare in the presence of an industry-wide union

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  • Domenico Buccella

Abstract

Mainstream locus communis indicates that a more competitive product market leads to higher social welfare levels. Using a Conjectural Variation (CV) model, this research note analyzes the effects on welfare of different degrees of product market competition in a duopoly with differentiated goods. Bargaining between the firms and the industry-wide union occurs under the Efficient Bargaining (EB) model. The work indicates that, with close substitute goods, social welfare is maximized for the intermediate levels of market competition, whereas more independent goods lead to the standard result of a high welfare level under competitive markets. Copyright ISEG 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Domenico Buccella, 2014. "Product market competition with differentiated goods and social welfare in the presence of an industry-wide union," Portuguese Economic Journal, Springer;Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestao, vol. 13(2), pages 131-140, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:portec:v:13:y:2014:i:2:p:131-140
    DOI: 10.1007/s10258-014-0102-x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Domenico Buccella & Luciano Fanti, 2022. "Downstream competition and profits under different input price bargaining structures," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 136(3), pages 251-268, August.
    2. Buccella Domenico & Fanti Luciano, 2019. "Profits Under Centralized Negotiations: The Efficient Bargaining Case," The B.E. Journal of Theoretical Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 19(2), pages 1-8, June.
    3. Domenico Buccella, 2015. "Unionized duopoly, market competition with differentiated products, and welfare," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 42(4), pages 455-473, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bargaining; Conjectural variation; Unionized oligopoly; Social welfare; D43; J51; L13;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets

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