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Relaxing Competition through Speculation: Committing to a Negative Supply Slope

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  • Holmberg, Pär

    (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN))

  • Willems, Bert

    (Department of Economics)

Abstract

We demonstrate how suppliers can take strategic speculative positions in derivatives markets to soften competition in the spot market. In our game, suppliers first choose a portfolio of call options and then compete with supply functions. In equilibrium firms sell forward contracts and buy call options to commit to downward sloping supply functions. Although this strategy is risky, it reduces the elasticity of the residual demand of competitors, who increase their mark-ups in response. We show that this type of strategic speculation increases the level and volatility of commodity prices and decreases welfare.

Suggested Citation

  • Holmberg, Pär & Willems, Bert, 2012. "Relaxing Competition through Speculation: Committing to a Negative Supply Slope," Working Paper Series 937, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:0937
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    Cited by:

    1. Wölfing, Nikolas, 2019. "Forward trading and collusion in supply functions," ZEW Discussion Papers 19-003, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    2. Simona Bigerna and Carlo Andrea Bollino, 2016. "Optimal Price Design in the Wholesale Electricity Market," The Energy Journal, International Association for Energy Economics, vol. 0(Bollino-M).
    3. Willems, Bert & Yu, Yueting, 2023. "Bidding and Investment in Wholesale Electricity Markets: Discriminatory versus Uniform-Price Auctions," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2023023, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    4. David P. Brown & David E. M. Sappington, 2023. "Employing gain-sharing regulation to promote forward contracting in the electricity sector," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 63(1), pages 30-56, April.
    5. Chloé Le Coq & Sebastian Schwenen, 2020. "Financial contracts as coordination device," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 241-259, April.
    6. Holmberg, Pär & Tangerås, Thomas & Ahlqvist, Victor, 2018. "Central- versus Self-Dispatch in Electricity Markets," Working Paper Series 1257, Research Institute of Industrial Economics, revised 27 Mar 2019.
    7. van Eijkel, Remco & Kuper, Gerard H. & Moraga-González, José L., 2016. "Do firms sell forward for strategic reasons? An application to the wholesale market for natural gas," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 1-35.
    8. David P. Brown & Andrew Eckert, 2018. "Analyzing the Impact of Electricity Market Structure Changes and Mergers: The Importance of Forward Commitments," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 52(1), pages 101-137, February.
    9. Brown, David P. & Eckert, Andrew, 2021. "Analyzing firm behavior in restructured electricity markets: Empirical challenges with a residual demand analysis," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    10. Brown, David P. & Sappington, David E. M., 2022. "The Impact of Wholesale Price Caps on Forward Contracting," Working Papers 2022-12, University of Alberta, Department of Economics.
    11. Sébastien Mitraille & Henry Thille, 2020. "Strategic advance sales, demand uncertainty and overcommitment," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 69(3), pages 789-828, April.
    12. David P. Brown & David E. M. Sappington, 2023. "Load-Following Forward Contracts," The Energy Journal, , vol. 44(3), pages 187-222, May.
    13. K. Ruddell & A. B. Philpott & A. Downward, 2017. "Supply Function Equilibrium with Taxed Benefits," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 65(1), pages 1-18, February.
    14. K. Ruddell & A. B. Philpott & A. Downward, 2017. "Supply Function Equilibrium with Taxed Benefits," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 65(1), pages 1-18, February.
    15. Willems, Bert & Yueting, Yu, 2023. "Bidding and Investment in Wholesale Electricity Markets: Discriminatory versus Uniform-Price Auctions," TSE Working Papers 23-1462, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    16. Brown, David P. & Eckert, Andrew & Silveira, Douglas, 2023. "Screening for collusion in wholesale electricity markets: A literature review," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Supply function equilibrium; Option contracts; Strategic commitment; Speculation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C73 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Stochastic and Dynamic Games; Evolutionary Games
    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • D44 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Auctions
    • G13 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Contingent Pricing; Futures Pricing
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L94 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Electric Utilities

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