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Competition, collusion and spatial sales patterns: Theory and evidence

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  • Hunold, Matthias
  • Hüschelrath, Kai
  • Laitenberger, Ulrich
  • Muthers, Johannes

Abstract

We study competition in markets with significant transport costs and capacity constraints. We compare the cases of price competition and coordination in a theoretical model and find that when firms compete, they more often serve more distant customers that are closer to plants of competitors. By means of a rich micro-level data set of the cement industry in Germany, we provide empirical evidence in support of this result. Controlling for other potentially confounding factors, such as the number of production plants and demand, we find that the transport distances between suppliers and customers were on average significantly lower in cartel years than in non-cartel years.

Suggested Citation

  • Hunold, Matthias & Hüschelrath, Kai & Laitenberger, Ulrich & Muthers, Johannes, 2017. "Competition, collusion and spatial sales patterns: Theory and evidence," ZEW Discussion Papers 17-035, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, revised 2017.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:zewdip:17035
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    Cited by:

    1. Hunold, Matthias & Muthers, Johannes, 2019. "Spatial competition and price discrimination with capacity constraints," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    2. Matthias Hunold & Johannes Muthers, 2018. "Spatial Competition with Capacity Constraints and Subcontracting," Economics working papers 2018-13, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    capacity constraints; cartel; cement; spatial competition; transport costs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K21 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Antitrust Law
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L41 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Monopolization; Horizontal Anticompetitive Practices
    • L61 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Metals and Metal Products; Cement; Glass; Ceramics

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