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The Choice of Organizational Form in Gasoline Retailing and the Cost of Laws That Limit That Choice

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  • Blass, Asher A
  • Carlton, Dennis W

Abstract

This paper uses a new data source to analyze the choice of organizational form of retail gasoline stations. In recent years, gasoline stations have tended to be less likely to be owned and operated by a lessee-dealer and more likely to be owned and operated by the refiner. We examine the determinants of organizational form and find them to be based on efficiency, not predatory concerns. We estimate the costs of recent laws that prohibit company ownership of gasoline stations and find that the annual cost of national divorcement legislation could easily exceed $1 billion. Copyright 2001 by the University of Chicago.

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  • Blass, Asher A & Carlton, Dennis W, 2001. "The Choice of Organizational Form in Gasoline Retailing and the Cost of Laws That Limit That Choice," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 44(2), pages 511-524, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlawec:v:44:y:2001:i:2:p:511-24
    DOI: 10.1086/322815
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    1. Brickley, James A. & Dark, Frederick H., 1987. "The choice of organizational form The case of franchising," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 401-420, June.
    2. Slade, Margaret E, 1998. "Strategic Motives for Vertical Separation: Evidence from Retail Gasoline Markets," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 14(1), pages 84-113, April.
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    7. Vita, Michael G, 2000. "Regulatory Restrictions on Vertical Integration and Control: The Competitive Impact of Gasoline Divorcement Policies," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 217-233, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Marissa Beck & Fiona Scott Morton, 2021. "Evaluating the Evidence on Vertical Mergers," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 59(2), pages 273-302, September.
    2. Loertscher, Simon & Reisinger, Markus, 2009. "Competitive E?ects of Vertical Integration with Downstream Oligopsony and Oligopoly," Discussion Paper Series of SFB/TR 15 Governance and the Efficiency of Economic Systems 278, Free University of Berlin, Humboldt University of Berlin, University of Bonn, University of Mannheim, University of Munich.
    3. Emek Basker & Lucia Foster & Shawn Klimek, 2017. "Customer‐employee substitution: Evidence from gasoline stations," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 876-896, December.
    4. Francine Lafontaine & Margaret Slade, 2007. "Vertical Integration and Firm Boundaries: The Evidence," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 45(3), pages 629-685, September.
    5. Erich J. Muehlegger, 2004. "Gasoline Price Spikes and Regional Gasoline Content Regulations - A Structural Approach," Working Papers 0421, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research.
    6. Emek Basker & Lucia Foster & Shawn Klimek, 2017. "Customer-employee substitution: Evidence from gasoline stations," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 876-896, December.
    7. Iwasaki, Ichiro & 岩﨑, 一郎 & イワサキ, イチロウ, 2013. "Economics of Corporate Form: Why Do Russian Firms Prefer to Be Closed Companies?," RRC Working Paper Series 3, Russian Research Center, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    8. Justine S. Hastings & Richard J. Gilbert, 2005. "Market Power, Vertical Integration And The Wholesale Price Of Gasoline," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 469-492, December.
    9. Fernando Coloma & Juan-Pablo Montero, 2009. "Escalamiento de cargos de acceso e incentivos a la predación de un operador de telefonía local integrado verticalmente," Documentos de Trabajo 361, Instituto de Economia. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile..
    10. Bello, Alejandro & Cavero, Sandra, 2008. "The Spanish retail petroleum market: New patterns of competition since the liberalization of the industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 612-626, February.
    11. Michiel Bijlsma & Viktoria Kocsis & Victoria Shestalova & Gijsbert Zwart, 2008. "Vertical foreclosure: a policy framework," CPB Document 157, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    12. Charles Murry & Peter Newberry, 2022. "Franchise Contract Regulations and Local Market Structure," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 65(1), pages 105-130.
    13. Legros, Patrick & Newman, Andrew F., 2017. "Demand-driven integration and divorcement policy," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 306-325.
    14. Arturs Kalnins, 2017. "Pricing Variation Within Dual-Distribution Chains: The Different Implications of Externalities and Signaling for High- and Low-Quality Brands," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(1), pages 139-152, January.
    15. Benjamin Atkinson & Andrew Eckert & Douglas S. West, 2009. "Price Matching And The Domino Effect In A Retail Gasoline Market," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 47(3), pages 568-588, July.
    16. Alicia García-Herrera & Rafael Llorca-Vivero, 2010. "How time influences franchise contracts: the Spanish case," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 1-16, August.
    17. Raúl Bajo-Buenestado & Miguel Ángel Borrella-Mas, 2022. "The Heterogeneous Tax Pass-Through Under Different Vertical Relationships," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(645), pages 1684-1708.
    18. Nowakowski Marcin & Karasiewicz Grzegorz, 2016. "Market Structure and Price-Cost Margins in European Retail Gasoline Industry," Journal of Management and Business Administration. Central Europe, Sciendo, vol. 24(3), pages 105-124, September.
    19. William Comanor & Jon Riddle, 2003. "The Costs of Regulation: Branded Open Supply and Uniform Pricing of Gasoline," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 135-155.
    20. John M. Barron & Beck A. Taylor & John R. Umbeck, 2004. "Will Open Supply Lower Retail Gasoline Prices?," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 22(1), pages 63-77, January.
    21. Kosová, Renáta & Lafontaine, Francine, 2012. "Much ado about chains: A research agenda," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 303-308.
    22. Zhang, Xiao-Bing & Fei, Yinxin & Zheng, Ying & Zhang, Lei, 2020. "Price ceilings as focal points to reach price uniformity: Evidence from a Chinese gasoline market," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    23. Michael Keeley & Kenneth Elzinga, 2003. "Uniform Gasoline Price Regulation: Consequences for Consumer Welfare," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 157-168.

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