IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-04785778.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Buyer Power Effect of Retail Mergers: An Empirical Model of Bargaining with Equilibrium of Fear

Author

Listed:
  • Céline Bonnet

    (TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - UT - Université de Toulouse - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - UT - Université de Toulouse)

  • Zohra Bouamra-Mechemache

    (TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - UT - Université de Toulouse - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - UT - Université de Toulouse)

  • Hugo Molina

    (UMR PSAE - Paris-Saclay Applied Economics - AgroParisTech - Université Paris-Saclay - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement)

Abstract

We develop a bilateral oligopoly framework with manufacturer-retailer bargaining to analyze the impact of retail mergers on market outcomes. We show that the surplus division between manufacturers and retailers depends on three bargaining forces and can be interpreted in terms of an "equilibrium of fear". We estimate our framework in the French soft drink industry and find that retailers have greater bargaining power than manufacturers. Using counterfactual simulations, we highlight that retail mergers increase retailers' fear of disagreement relative to that of manufacturers, which weakens their buyer power and leads to higher wholesale and retail prices.

Suggested Citation

  • Céline Bonnet & Zohra Bouamra-Mechemache & Hugo Molina, 2023. "The Buyer Power Effect of Retail Mergers: An Empirical Model of Bargaining with Equilibrium of Fear," Post-Print hal-04785778, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04785778
    DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.3938971
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gregory S. Crawford & Robin S. Lee & Michael D. Whinston & Ali Yurukoglu, 2018. "The Welfare Effects of Vertical Integration in Multichannel Television Markets," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 86(3), pages 891-954, May.
    2. Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg & Rebecca Hellerstein, 2013. "A Structural Approach to Identifying the Sources of Local Currency Price Stability," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 80(1), pages 175-210.
    3. Rey, Patrick & Vergé, Thibaud, 2016. "Secret contracting in multilateral relations," TSE Working Papers 16-744, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Dec 2020.
    4. Emi Nakamura & Dawit Zerom, 2010. "Accounting for Incomplete Pass-Through," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 77(3), pages 1192-1230.
    5. Beck, Günter W. & Lein, Sarah M., 2020. "Price elasticities and demand-side real rigidities in micro data and in macro models," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 200-212.
    6. Céline Bonnet & Vincent Réquillart, 2013. "Impact of Cost Shocks on Consumer Prices in Vertically-Related Markets: The Case of The French Soft Drink Market," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 95(5), pages 1088-1108.
    7. Germain Gaudin, 2018. "Vertical Bargaining and Retail Competition: What Drives Countervailing Power?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(614), pages 2380-2413, September.
    8. Sofia Berto Villas-Boas, 2007. "Vertical Relationships between Manufacturers and Retailers: Inference with Limited Data," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 74(2), pages 625-652.
    9. Train,Kenneth E., 2009. "Discrete Choice Methods with Simulation," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521766555, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Pierre Dubois & Rachel Griffith & Martin O'Connell, 2020. "How Well Targeted Are Soda Taxes?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(11), pages 3661-3704, November.
    2. Rachel Griffith & Lars Nesheim & Martin O'Connell, 2018. "Income effects and the welfare consequences of tax in differentiated product oligopoly," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 9(1), pages 305-341, March.
    3. Martin O'Connell & Pierre Dubois & Rachel Griffith, 2022. "The Use of Scanner Data for Economics Research," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 14(1), pages 723-745, August.
    4. Hugo Molina, 2024. "Buyer Alliances in Vertically Related Markets," Working Papers hal-03340176, HAL.
    5. Allain, Marie-Laure & Avignon, Rémi & Chambolle, Claire, 2020. "Purchasing alliances and product variety," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    6. Irz, Xavier & Mazzocchi, Mario & Réquillart, Vincent & Soler, Louis-Georges, 2015. "Research in Food Economics: past trends and new challenges," Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement, Editions NecPlus, vol. 96(01), pages 187-237, March.
    7. Gaudin, Germain, 2016. "Pass-through, vertical contracts, and bargains," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 1-4.
    8. Raphael Auer & Ariel Burstein & Sarah M. Lein, 2021. "Exchange Rates and Prices: Evidence from the 2015 Swiss Franc Appreciation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(2), pages 652-686, February.
    9. Bonnet, Céline & Corre, Tifenn & Réquillart, Vincent, 2015. "Price Transmission in Food Chains: The Case of the Dairy Industry," TSE Working Papers 15-563, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    10. Yonezawa, Koichi & Gomez, Miguel I. & Richards, Timothy J., 2018. "The Robinson-Patman Act and Vertical Relationships in Food Retailing," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274204, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    11. Céline Bonnet & Jan Philip Schain, 2020. "An Empirical Analysis Of Mergers: Efficiency Gains And Impact On Consumer Prices," Journal of Competition Law and Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(1), pages 1-35.
    12. Hovhannisyan, Vardges & Stiegert, Kyle W., 2011. "Vertical Channel Analysis of the U.S. Milk Market," 2011 Annual Meeting, July 24-26, 2011, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 103631, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    13. Lein, Sarah Marit & Beck, Günter W., 2015. "Microeconometric evidence on demand-side real rigidity and implications for monetary non-neutrality," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 113144, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    14. Willem H. Boshoff & Luke M. Froeb & Wihan Marais & Roan J. Minnie & Steven Tschantz, 2025. "Bargaining Competition and Vertical Mergers: The Problem of Model Selection," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 66(2), pages 141-183, February.
    15. Richards, Timothy J. & Allender, William J. & Hamilton, Stephen F., 2012. "Commodity price inflation, retail pass-through and market power," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 50-57.
    16. Sheldon, Ian M., 2017. "The Competitiveness Of Agricultural Product And Input Markets: A Review And Synthesis Of Recent Research," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(1), pages 1-44, February.
    17. Yonezawa, Koichi & Richards, Timothy J., 2016. "Competitive Package Size Decisions," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 92(4), pages 445-469.
    18. Bonnet, Céline & Réquillart, Vincent, 2013. "Tax incidence with strategic firms in the soft drink market," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 77-88.
    19. repec:hal:wpaper:hal-03375907 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Adachi, Takanori & Ebina, Takeshi, 2014. "Double marginalization and cost pass-through: Weyl–Fabinger and Cowan meet Spengler and Bresnahan–Reiss," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 122(2), pages 170-175.
    21. Hayashida, K., 2018. "Bargaining Power between Food Processors and Retailers: Evidence from Japanese Milk Transactions," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277730, International Association of Agricultural Economists.

    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:hal:journl:hal-04785778. 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: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.