IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ucp/jlawec/v43y2000i1p143-56.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Vertical Coordination, Antitrust Law, and International Trade

Author

Listed:
  • Hamilton, Stephen F
  • Stiegert, Kyle

Abstract

This paper demonstrates that vertically aligned private or public organizations are capable of generating strategic trade advantage similar to that acquired through direct government export subsidization. The model considers two forms of vertical coordination that lead to advantageous trade positions in international markets: upstream vertical restraint and downstream equity sharing. Such practices are commonly employed both by state trading agencies and by private firms in nations with lenient antitrust laws. The finding has important implications under new World Trade Organization (WTO) rules intended to reduce government intervention in international transactions. Recent reforms in the WTO favor nations that sanction highly refined vertical linkages between firms, while nations with stringent antitrust legislation have an incentive to negotiate for greater harmonization of international laws. Copyright 2000 by the University of Chicago.

Suggested Citation

  • Hamilton, Stephen F & Stiegert, Kyle, 2000. "Vertical Coordination, Antitrust Law, and International Trade," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 43(1), pages 143-156, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlawec:v:43:y:2000:i:1:p:143-56
    DOI: 10.1086/467450
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/467450
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1086/467450?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. Anne T. Coughlan & Birger Wernerfelt, 1989. "On Credible Delegation by Oligopolists: A Discussion of Distribution Channel Management," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(2), pages 226-239, February.
    2. Fershtman, Chaim & Judd, Kenneth L, 1987. "Equilibrium Incentives in Oligopoly," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(5), pages 927-940, December.
    3. Spencer, Barbara J. & Jones, Ronald W., 1992. "Trade and protection in vertically related markets," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1-2), pages 31-55, February.
    4. Steven D. Sklivas, 1987. "The Strategic Choice of Managerial Incentives," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 18(3), pages 452-458, Autumn.
    5. William Novshek, 1985. "On the Existence of Cournot Equilibrium," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 52(1), pages 85-98.
    6. Bagwell, Kyle & Staiger, Robert W., 1994. "The sensitivity of strategic and corrective R&D policy in oligopolistic industries," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1-2), pages 133-150, February.
    7. Reitman, David, 1993. "Stock Options and the Strategic Use of Managerial Incentives," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(3), pages 513-524, June.
    8. Bensaid, Bernard & Gary-Bobo, Robert J., 1991. "Negotiation of profit-sharing contracts in industry," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 1069-1085, July.
    9. Brander, James A. & Spencer, Barbara J., 1985. "Export subsidies and international market share rivalry," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1-2), pages 83-100, February.
    10. Flath, David, 1989. "Vertical integration by means of shareholding interlocks," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 369-380.
    11. Flath, David, 1996. "The Keiretsu Puzzle," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 101-121, June.
    12. Li, David D & Li, Shan, 1996. "A Theory of Corporate Scope and Financial Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 51(2), pages 691-709, June.
    13. Belderbos, Rene & Sleuwaegen, Leo, 1996. "Japanese Firms and the Decision to Invest Abroad: Business Groups and Regional Core Networks," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 78(2), pages 214-220, May.
    14. Kai-Uwe Kuhn, 1997. "Nonlinear Pricing in Vertically Related Duopolies," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 28(1), pages 37-62, Spring.
    15. Vickers, John, 1985. "Delegation and the Theory of the Firm," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 95(380a), pages 138-147, Supplemen.
    16. Perry, Martin K, 1978. "Vertical Integration: The Monopsony Case," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 68(4), pages 561-570, September.
    17. Lin, Y Joseph, 1988. "Oligopoly and Vertical Integration: Note," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(1), pages 251-254, March.
    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. Hamilton, Stephen F. & Stiegert, Kyle W., 2002. "An empirical test of the rent-shifting hypothesis: the case of state trading enterprises," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 135-157, October.
    2. Stiegert, Kyle W. & Wang, Shinn-Shyr, 2003. "Imperfect Competition And Strategic Trade Theory: What Have We Learned," Working Papers 14589, International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium.
    3. Hamilton, Stephen F. & Requate, Till, 2004. "Vertical structure and strategic environmental trade policy," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 260-269, March.
    4. Fengxia Dong & Thomas L. Marsh & Kyle W. Stiegert, 2006. "State Trading Enterprises in a Differentiated Product Environment: The Case of Global Malting Barley Markets," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 88(1), pages 90-103.
    5. Reimer, Jeffrey J. & Steigert, Kyle W., 2006. "Imperfect Competition and Strategic Trade Theory: What Have We Learned?," Working Papers 201528, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Food System Research Group.
    6. Reimer, Jeffrey J. & Stiegert, Kyle W., 2006. "Evidence on Imperfect Competition and Strategic Trade Theory," Staff Papers 12609, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
    7. Sajal Lahiri & Yingyi Tsai, 2019. "Foreign penetration and domestic competition," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 128(1), pages 27-45, September.
    8. Margherita Scoppola, 2007. "Economies of scale and market structure in international grain trade," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 37(2‐3), pages 277-291, September.
    9. Ying Li & Wing-Keung Wong & Ming Jing Yang & Yang-Che Wu & Tien-Trung Nguyen, 2022. "Modeling the Linkage between Vertical Contracts and Strategic Environmental Policy: Energy Price Marketization Level and Strategic Choice for China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-12, June.

    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. Ziss, Steffen, 1999. "Divisionalization and strategic managerial incentives in oligopoly under uncertainty," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 17(8), pages 1163-1187, November.
    2. Hamilton, Stephen F. & Stiegert, Kyle W., 2002. "An empirical test of the rent-shifting hypothesis: the case of state trading enterprises," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 135-157, October.
    3. Hamilton, Stephen F. & Requate, Till, 2004. "Vertical structure and strategic environmental trade policy," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 260-269, March.
    4. Stiegert, Kyle W. & Wang, Shinn-Shyr, 2003. "Imperfect Competition And Strategic Trade Theory: What Have We Learned," Working Papers 14589, International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium.
    5. Miettinen, Topi & Stenbacka, Rune, 2018. "Strategic short-termism: Implications for the management and acquisition of customer relationships," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 200-222.
    6. Saggi, Kamal & Vettas, Nikolaos, 2002. "On intrabrand and interbrand competition: The strategic role of fees and royalties," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 189-200, January.
    7. Xiong, Yan & Jiang, Xu, 2022. "Economic consequences of managerial compensation contract disclosure," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(2).
    8. Caillaud, Bernard & Rey, Patrick, 1995. "Strategic aspects of vertical delegation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(3-4), pages 421-431, April.
    9. Ya-Chin Wang, 2013. "Optimal R&D Policy and Managerial Delegation Under Vertically Differentiated Duopoly," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 81(4), pages 605-624, December.
    10. Kai-Uwe Kuhn, 1997. "Nonlinear Pricing in Vertically Related Duopolies," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 28(1), pages 37-62, Spring.
    11. Spagnolo, Giancarlo, 2005. "Managerial incentives and collusive behavior," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(6), pages 1501-1523, August.
    12. Levent Koçkesen & Efe A. Ok, 2004. "Strategic Delegation By Unobservable Incentive Contracts," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 71(2), pages 397-424.
    13. Fershtman, Chaim & Kalai, Ehud, 1997. "Unobserved Delegation," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 38(4), pages 763-774, November.
    14. Bakaouka, Elpiniki & Milliou, Chrysovalantou, 2018. "Vertical licensing, input pricing, and entry," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 66-96.
    15. Itaya, Jun-ichi & Cornes, Richard, 2016. "Alternative Objectives in an Oligopoly Model : An Aggregative Game Approach," Discussion paper series. A 307, Graduate School of Economics and Business Administration, Hokkaido University.
    16. Kirstein, Roland & Kirstein, Annette, 2004. "Inefficient Intra-Firm Incentives Can Stabilize Cartels in Cournot Oligopolies," CSLE Discussion Paper Series 2004-09, Saarland University, CSLE - Center for the Study of Law and Economics.
    17. Baik, Kyung Hwan & Kim, In-Gyu, 1997. "Delegation in contests," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 281-298, May.
    18. Lee, Gea M., 2010. "Optimal collusion with internal contracting," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 646-669, March.
    19. Michael L. Katz, 2006. "Observable Contracts as Commitments: Interdependent Contracts and Moral Hazard," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(3), pages 685-706, September.
    20. Vettas, Nikolaos & Petrakis, Emmanuel & Milliou, Chrysovalantou, 2003. "Endogenous Contracts Under Bargaining in Competing Vertical Chains," CEPR Discussion Papers 3976, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

    More about this item

    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:ucp:jlawec:v:43:y:2000:i:1:p:143-56. 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: Journals Division (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JLE .

    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.