Vertical contracting and countervailing power
Author(s)
Iozzi, A
Valletti, T
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We study a set of bilateral Nash bargaining problems between an upstream input supplier and several differentiated but competing retailers. If one bilateral bargain fails, the supplier can sell to the other retailers. We show that, in a disagreement, the other retailers' behavior has a dramatic impact on the supplier's outside options and, therefore, on input prices and welfare. We revisit the countervailing buyer power hypothesis and obtain results in stark contrast with previous findings, depending on the type of outside option. Our results apply, more generally, to the literature that incorporates negotiated input prices using bilateral Nash bargaining. (JEL C72, C78, D43, L13, L14, L81)
Date Issued
2014-08-01
Date Acceptance
2014-08-01
Citation
American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, 2014, 6 (3), pp.106-135
ISSN
1945-7669
Publisher
American Economic Association
Start Page
106
End Page
135
Journal / Book Title
American Economic Journal: Microeconomics
Volume
6
Issue
3
Copyright Statement
© The authors
Sponsor
Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC)
Identifier
http://spiralbib.lib.ic.ac.uk/bitstream/10044/2/188751/2/Valletti%202010-10.pdf
Grant Number
ES/H003975/1
Subjects
Countervailing buyer power
Nash bargaining
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
2010-10