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Collusive Equilibrium in the Great Salt Duopoly

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  • Rees, Ray

Abstract

This paper uses data presented in a report of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission on the market for white salt to test the implications of some recent developments in oligopoly theory. The market in question is a homogeneous, price-setting duopoly where firms are subject to capacity constraints. We find that the conclusions of models based on one-shot non-cooperative games do not hold. Collusion in the market is readily explained by the types of threat strategies underlying Abreu's 'simple penal codes.' Possible explanations of the collusive equilibrium in terms of joint profit maximization are not supported by the data. Indeed the explanation of the equilibrium remains an open question. Copyright 1993 by Royal Economic Society.
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Suggested Citation

  • Rees, Ray, 1993. "Collusive Equilibrium in the Great Salt Duopoly," Munich Reprints in Economics 3413, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:lmu:muenar:3413
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    1. Val Eugene Lambson, 1987. "Optimal Penal Codes in Price-setting Supergames with Capacity Constraints," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 54(3), pages 385-397.
    2. Rees, Ray, 1993. "Collusive Equilibrium in the Great Salt Duopoly," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 103(419), pages 833-848, July.
    3. Carl Davidson & Raymond Deneckere, 1986. "Long-Run Competition in Capacity, Short-Run Competition in Price, and the Cournot Model," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 17(3), pages 404-415, Autumn.
    4. James W. Friedman, 1971. "A Non-cooperative Equilibrium for Supergames," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 38(1), pages 1-12.
    5. Raymond J. Deneckere & Dan Kovenock, 1992. "Price Leadership," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 59(1), pages 143-162.
      • Raymond Deneckere & Dan Kovenock, 1988. "Price Leadership," Discussion Papers 773, Northwestern University, Center for Mathematical Studies in Economics and Management Science.
    6. Abreu, Dilip, 1988. "On the Theory of Infinitely Repeated Games with Discounting," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 56(2), pages 383-396, March.
    7. Levitan, Richard & Shubik, Martin, 1972. "Price Duopoly and Capacity Constraints," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 13(1), pages 111-122, February.
    8. Drew Fudenberg & Eric Maskin, 2008. "The Folk Theorem In Repeated Games With Discounting Or With Incomplete Information," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Drew Fudenberg & David K Levine (ed.), A Long-Run Collaboration On Long-Run Games, chapter 11, pages 209-230, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    9. Osborne, Martin J. & Pitchik, Carolyn, 1986. "Price competition in a capacity-constrained duopoly," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 238-260, April.
    10. Dixon, Huw, 1987. "The General Theory of Household and Market Contingent Demand," The Manchester School of Economic & Social Studies, University of Manchester, vol. 55(3), pages 287-304, September.
    11. David M. Kreps & Jose A. Scheinkman, 1983. "Quantity Precommitment and Bertrand Competition Yield Cournot Outcomes," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 14(2), pages 326-337, Autumn.
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    Cited by:

    1. Emmanuel Dechenaux & Dan Kovenock, 2011. "Endogenous rationing, price dispersion and collusion in capacity constrained supergames," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 47(1), pages 29-74, May.
    2. Pierre-Pascal Gendron, 1996. "Corporation Tax Asymmetries: An Oligopolistic Supergame Analysis," Working Papers ecpap-96-04, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    3. Rees, Ray, 1993. "Collusive Equilibrium in the Great Salt Duopoly," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 103(419), pages 833-848, July.
    4. Vasconcelos, Silvinha Pinto & Ramos, Francisco de Souza, 2002. "Collusion in the Brazilian steel sector: A new industrial economy approach," Brazilian Review of Econometrics, Sociedade Brasileira de Econometria - SBE, vol. 22(1), May.
    5. Switgard Feuerstein, 2005. "Collusion in Industrial Economics—A Survey," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 5(3), pages 163-198, December.
    6. Vital Anderhub & Werner Güth & Ulrich Kamecke & Hans-Theo Normann, 2003. "Capacity Choices and Price Competition in Experimental Markets," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 6(1), pages 27-52, June.
    7. Tay-Cheng Ma, 2005. "The Collusive Equilibrium in a Quantity-Setting Supergame: An Application to Taiwan’s Flour Industry," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 27(2), pages 107-124, September.
    8. Kyle Hampton & Katerina Sherstyuk, 2012. "Demand shocks, capacity coordination, and industry performance: lessons from an economic laboratory," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 43(1), pages 139-166, March.
    9. Waterson, Michael, 2003. "Consumers and Competition," Economic Research Papers 269563, University of Warwick - Department of Economics.
    10. Marcel Canoy & S. Onderstal, 2003. "Tight oligopolies: in search of proportionate remedies," CPB Document 29.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    11. Phlips, Louis, 1996. "On the detection of collusion and predation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(3-5), pages 495-510, April.
    12. John Child & Terence Tsai, 2005. "The Dynamic Between Firms’ Environmental Strategies and Institutional Constraints in Emerging Economies: Evidence from China and Taiwan," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(1), pages 95-125, January.

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