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Hit and Run or Sit and Wait? Contestability Revisited in a Price-Comparison Site-Mediated Market

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  • Michelle Haynes
  • Steve Thompson

Abstract

The price-comparison site, with its (near-)zero sunk costs of entry, would appear to approximate the "almost perfectly contestable market" envisaged by the contestability theorists where "hit-and-run" entry was conjectured to constrain sellers to zero-profit outcomes. We investigate hit and run using a unique unbalanced panel of 295 digital-camera markets mediated by NexTag.com. We find, however, in line with Farrell (1986a)'s prediction, a bifurcation of strategies with low reputation/smaller participants favouring a hit-and-run strategy involving lower entry prices and shorter forays into the market than their high reputation/larger rivals. Furthermore, the former entrants induce a much larger price response from low-reputation incumbents, reflecting the more intense rivalry for the price-sensitive consumers willing to eschew retailer reputations.

Suggested Citation

  • Michelle Haynes & Steve Thompson, 2014. "Hit and Run or Sit and Wait? Contestability Revisited in a Price-Comparison Site-Mediated Market," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(2), pages 165-190, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ijecbs:v:21:y:2014:i:2:p:165-190
    DOI: 10.1080/13571516.2014.912450
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Baumol, William J, 1982. "Contestable Markets: An Uprising in the Theory of Industry Structure," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(1), pages 1-15, March.
    2. Uwe Dulleck & Franz Hackl & Bernhard Weiss & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer, 2008. "Buying Online: Sequential Decision Making by Shopbot Visitors," NCER Working Paper Series 31, National Centre for Econometric Research.
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    Cited by:

    1. Franz Hackl & Michael Hölzl‐Leitner & Rudolf Winter‐Ebmer & Christine Zulehner, 2021. "Successful retailer strategies in price comparison platforms," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(5), pages 1284-1305, July.
    2. Lindgren, Charlie & Daunfeldt, Sven-Olov & Rudholm, Niklas, 2021. "Pricing In Retail Markets With Low Search Costs: Evidence From A Price Comparison Website," HFI Working Papers 18, Institute of Retail Economics (Handelns Forskningsinstitut).
    3. Franz Hackl & Michael Hölzl-Leitner & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer & Christine Zulehner, 2018. "Success of firm strategies in e-commerce," Economics working papers 2018-10, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.

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