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Competition and Price Discrimination in International Transportation

Author

Listed:
  • Ignatenko, Anna

    (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration)

Abstract

This paper documents price discrimination by transport companies, revealing their market power. Larger shipments of similar products sharing a container receive lower prices. A trade model with non-linear pricing of transportation rationalizes this with economies of scale and price discrimination, highlighting their distinct policy implications. To distinguish them, I test for the effect of competition on freight price variation specific to price discrimination. Using unexpected water level changes to instrument for competition in river transportation, I find increased competition causes steeper discounts for larger shipments. Thus, market power in transportation is less distortionary for larger firms gaining additional cost advantages.

Suggested Citation

  • Ignatenko, Anna, 2024. "Competition and Price Discrimination in International Transportation," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 6/2024, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:nhheco:2024_006
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    File URL: https://openaccess.nhh.no/nhh-xmlui/handle/11250/3130324
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    price discrimination; quantity discounts; transportation; competition; economies of scale; mark-ups; market power;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • F10 - International Economics - - Trade - - - General
    • F12 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade

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