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Mergers in Two-Sided Markets: An Application to the Canadian Newspaper Industry

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  • Chandra, Ambarish
  • Collard-Wexler, Allan

Abstract

In this paper we study mergers in two-sided industries. While mergers have been studied extensively in traditional industries, and there is a large and rapidly evolving literature on two-sided markets, there has been little work empirically examining mergers in these markets. We present a model that shows that mergers in two-sided markets may not necessarily lead to higher prices for either side of the market. We test our conclusions by examining a spate of mergers in the Canadian newspaper industry in the late 1990s. Specifically, we analyze prices for both circulation and advertising to try to understand the impact that these mergers had on consumer welfare. We find that greater concentration did not lead to higher prices for either newspaper subscribers or advertisers.

Suggested Citation

  • Chandra, Ambarish & Collard-Wexler, Allan, 2008. "Mergers in Two-Sided Markets: An Application to the Canadian Newspaper Industry," MPRA Paper 7954, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:7954
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ambarish Chandra, 2009. "Targeted Advertising: The Role Of Subscriber Characteristics In Media Markets," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(1), pages 58-84, March.
    2. Matthew Gentzkow, 2007. "Valuing New Goods in a Model with Complementarity: Online Newspapers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(3), pages 713-744, June.
    3. Marc Rysman, 2004. "Competition Between Networks: A Study of the Market for Yellow Pages," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 71(2), pages 483-512.
    4. Dertouzos, James N & Trautman, William B, 1990. "Economic Effects of Media Concentration: Estimates from a Model of the Newspaper Firm," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(1), pages 1-14, September.
    5. Meghan R. Busse, 2000. "Multimarket Contact and Price Coordination in the Cellular Telephone Industry," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(3), pages 287-320, June.
    6. Alberto Abadie & David Drukker & Jane Leber Herr & Guido W. Imbens, 2004. "Implementing matching estimators for average treatment effects in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 4(3), pages 290-311, September.
    7. Kaiser, Ulrich & Song, Minjae, 2009. "Do media consumers really dislike advertising? An empirical assessment of the role of advertising in print media markets," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 292-301, March.
    8. Thompson, R Stephen, 1989. "Circulation versus Advertiser Appeal in the Newspaper Industry: An Empirical Investigation," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(3), pages 259-271, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mergers; Two-Sided Markets; Newspapers;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • L4 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies

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