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The Choice of Organizational Form in Gasoline Retailing and The Costs of Laws Limiting that Choice

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  • Asher Blass
  • Dennis W. Carlton

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. Critics have alleged that company-operated stations are used to drive lessee dealer stations out of business in order to restrict competition. 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 prohibiting company ownership of gasoline stations.

Suggested Citation

  • Asher Blass & Dennis W. Carlton, 1999. "The Choice of Organizational Form in Gasoline Retailing and The Costs of Laws Limiting that Choice," NBER Working Papers 7435, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:7435
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Barron, John M & Umbeck, John R, 1984. "The Effects of Different Contractual Arrangements: The Case of Retail Gasoline Markets," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 27(2), pages 313-328, October.
    2. Andrea Shepard, 1993. "Contractual Form, Retail Price, and Asset Characteristics in Gasoline Retailing," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 24(1), pages 58-77, Spring.
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    Cited by:

    1. Zava Aydemir & Stefan Buehler, 2002. "Estimating Vertical Foreclosure in U.S. Gasoline Supply," SOI - Working Papers 0212, Socioeconomic Institute - University of Zurich.
    2. Chouinard Hayley H & Perloff Jeffrey M, 2007. "Gasoline Price Differences: Taxes, Pollution Regulations, Mergers, Market Power, and Market Conditions," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 7(1), pages 1-28, January.
    3. U, Peter Lee, 2000. "Competition Policy in the Philippine Downstream Oil Industry," Discussion Papers PASCN DP 2000-14, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
    4. Brickley, James A, 1999. "Incentive Conflicts and Contractual Restraints: Evidence from Franchising," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(2), pages 745-774, October.
    5. Juan Luis Jiménez & Jordi Perdiguero, 2018. "Mergers and difference-in-difference estimator: Why firms do not increase prices?," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 45(2), pages 285-311, April.
    6. 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.
    7. Jordi Perdiguero, 2011. "Vertical relations and local competition: an empirical approach," IREA Working Papers 201124, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Dec 2011.

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