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Market making oligopoly

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  • Simon Loertscher

Abstract

This paper analyzes price competition between market makers who set costly capacity constraints before they intermediate between producers and consumers. The key finding is that the unique perfect equilibrium outcome is Cournot if capacity is costly and rationing efficient. This result is interesting for two main reasons: It generalizes Kreps and Scheinkman (1983) to an arbitrary number of market makers, and it contrasts with Stahl (1988) and the broader literature on market making, such as Gehrig (1993), Fingleton (1997) and Rust and Hall (2003), where due to the absence of capacity constraints on the input market the Bertrand paradox typically prevails.

Suggested Citation

  • Simon Loertscher, 2005. "Market making oligopoly," Diskussionsschriften dp0512, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft.
    • Handle: RePEc:ube:dpvwib:dp0512
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. 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.
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    6. John Rust & George Hall, 2003. "Middlemen versus Market Makers: A Theory of Competitive Exchange," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(2), pages 353-403, April.
    7. Dan Kovenock & Raymond J. Deneckere, 1996. "Bertrand-Edgeworth duopoly with unit cost asymmetry (*)," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 8(1), pages 1-25.
    8. Pankaj Ghemawat, 1997. "Games Businesses Play: Cases and Models," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262071827, April.
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    10. Glenn Ellison & Drew Fudenberg, 2003. "Knife-Edge or Plateau: When Do Market Models Tip?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(4), pages 1249-1278.
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    12. Gehrig, Thomas, 1993. "Intermediation in Search Markets," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 2(1), pages 97-120, Spring.
    13. 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.
    14. Fudenberg, Drew & Tirole, Jean, 1984. "The Fat-Cat Effect, the Puppy-Dog Ploy, and the Lean and Hungry Look," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(2), pages 361-366, May.
    15. Boccard, Nicolas & Wauthy, Xavier, 2004. "Bertrand competition and Cournot outcomes: a correction," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 163-166, August.
    16. Sam Peltzman, 2000. "Prices Rise Faster than They Fall," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(3), pages 466-502, June.
    17. Boccard, Nicolas & Wauthy, Xavier, 2000. "Bertrand competition and Cournot outcomes: further results," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 68(3), pages 279-285, September.
    18. Partha Dasgupta & Eric Maskin, 1986. "The Existence of Equilibrium in Discontinuous Economic Games, I: Theory," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 53(1), pages 1-26.
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    20. 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.
    21. Dan Kovenock & Raymond Deneckere & Tom Faith & Beth Allen, 2000. "Capacity precommitment as a barrier to entry: A Bertrand-Edgeworth approach," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 15(3), pages 501-530.
    22. Caillaud, Bernard & Jullien, Bruno, 2001. "Competing cybermediaries," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(4-6), pages 797-808, May.
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    24. repec:bla:jindec:v:45:y:1997:i:4:p:405-27 is not listed on IDEAS
    25. Stahl, Dale O, II, 1988. "Bertrand Competition for Inputs and Walrasian Outcomes," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(1), pages 189-201, March.
    26. Yanelle, Marie-Odile, 1989. "The strategic analysis of intermediation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(2-3), pages 294-301, March.
    27. 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.
    28. Massimo A. De Francesco, 2003. "On a property of mixed strategy equilibria of the pricing game," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 4(30), pages 1-8.
    29. Jean-Charles Rochet & Jean Tirole, 2002. "Cooperation Among Competitors: Some Economics Of Payment Card Associations," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 33(4), pages 549-570, Winter.
    30. Daniel F. Spulber, 1996. "Market Making by Price-Setting Firms," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 63(4), pages 559-580.
    31. Kathryn Graddy, 1995. "Testing for Imperfect Competition at the Fulton Fish Market," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 26(1), pages 75-92, Spring.
    32. Beth Allen & Martin Hellwig, 1986. "Bertrand-Edgeworth Oligopoly in Large Markets," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 53(2), pages 175-204.
    33. Deneckere, Raymond J & Kovenock, Dan & Lee, Robert, 1992. "A Model of Price Leadership Based on Consumer Loyalty," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 147-156, June.
    34. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:4:y:2003:i:30:p:1-8 is not listed on IDEAS
    35. Simon Loertscher, 2007. "Horizontally Differentiated Market Makers," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(4), pages 793-825, December.
    36. John Fingleton, 1997. "Competition Among Middlemen When Buyers and Sellers Can Trade Directly," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(4), pages 405-427, December.
    37. 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.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Massimo A. Francesco, 2014. "A Dynamic Entry And Price Game With Capacity Indivisibility," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(4), pages 406-419, October.
    2. Barna Bakó & Attila Tasnádi, 2017. "The Kreps-Scheinkman Game in Mixed Duopolies," Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics (JITE), Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 173(4), pages 753-768, December.
    3. De Francesco, Massimo A. & Salvadori, Neri, 2008. "Bertrand-Edgeworth games under oligopoly with a complete characterization for the triopoly," MPRA Paper 10767, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 26 Sep 2008.
    4. Loertscher, Simon & Marx, Leslie M., 2017. "Club good intermediaries," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 430-459.
    5. De Francesco, Massimo A. & Salvadori, Neri, 2016. "Bertrand-Edgeworth games under triopoly: the equilibrium strategies when the payoffs of the two smallest firms are proportional to their capacities," MPRA Paper 69999, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. De Francesco, Massimo A. & Salvadori, Neri, 2015. "Bertrand-Edgeworth games under triopoly: the payoffs," MPRA Paper 64638, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Simon Loertscher & Leslie Marx, 2014. "An Oligopoly Model for Analyzing and Evaluating (Re)-Assignments of Spectrum Licenses," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 45(3), pages 245-273, November.
    8. Tasnádi, Attila & Bakó, Barna, 2014. "A Kreps-Scheinkman-állítás érvényessége lineáris keresletű vegyes duopóliumok esetén [The Kreps and Scheinkman result remains valid for mixed duopolies with linear demand]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(5), pages 533-543.
    9. De Francesco, Massimo A. & Salvadori, Neri, 2023. "Bertrand-Edgeworth game under oligopoly. General results and comparisons with duopoly," MPRA Paper 118237, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. James A. Brander & Barbara J. Spencer, 2015. "Endogenous Horizontal Product Differentiation under Bertrand and Cournot Competition: Revisiting the Bertrand Paradox," NBER Working Papers 20966, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Market making; capacity constraints; price competition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games
    • D41 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Perfect Competition
    • D43 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Oligopoly and Other Forms of Market Imperfection
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets

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