The Strategic Use of Innovation to Influence Environmental Policy: Taxes versus Standards
Abstract This paper evaluates the strategic behavior of a polluting monopolist to influence environmental policy, either with taxes or with standards, comparing two alternative policy games. The first of the games assumes that the regulator commits to an ex-ante level of the policy instrument. The second one is the time-consistent policy game. We find that the strategic behavior of the firm is welfare improving and leads to more environmental innovation than under regulatory commitment if a tax is used to control pollution. However, the contrary occurs if an emission standard is used. Under commitment, it is shown that both policy instruments are equivalent. We conclude that the optimal env…
Rail access charges and internal competition in high speed trains
Abstract This paper develops an ex ante analysis of the introduction of on-track competition in High Speed Rail (HSR) lines. The distinctive elements of our analysis are the consideration of: (i) the vertical structure of the rail sector, (ii) operators that compete in prices and number of services, and (iii) access charges for the use of the rail infrastructure that are endogenous. We provide simulation results for three Spanish HSR routes. The socio-economic viability of entry is found to depend on whether infrastructure and rail operations are integrated or separated, and also on the policy rule to set rail access charges. Firstly, separation without entry is not an appropriate good poli…
La elección del momento oportuno de la política ambiental en un mercado duopolístico
[EN] In this paper the strategic use of innovation by two polluting firms to influence environ-mental policy is evaluated. The analysis is carried out by comparing two alternative policy regimes for two policy instruments: Taxes and standards. The first of the regimes assumes that the regulator commits to an ex-ante level of the policy instrument. In the second one, there is no commitment. The results show that when there is no commitment and a tax is used to control emissions, the strategic behavior of firms can be welfare improving if the efficiency of the clean technology is relatively low. If this is not the case, the strategic behavior of the duopolists has a detrimental effect on welf…
Alternative pricing regimes in interurban passenger transport with externalities and modal competition
Abstract We develop an interurban passenger transport model with modal competition, where modes are perceived as differentiated products, and capture all major externalities. Our objective is to establish whether alternative regulatory regimes, which may involve road tolls, may lead to a traffic allocation, user welfare, and total welfare that may be closer to the social optimum. An empirical application to interurban Spanish travel is undertaken. We find that the private regime yields the lowest total welfare level: 12.6% below the social optimum level. Optimum pricing requires a toll on car transport of 5.1 cents of per passenger-km, and a price decrease of all other modes, relative to th…
Viability of new road infrastructure with heterogeneous users
This paper explores the importance of heterogeneity in value of time and route choice when assessing the viability of new road infrastructure to alleviate congestion problems. The model incorporates strategic interaction between road operators in a cost-benefit framework and several competitive regimes are considered. It is then employed to establish the financial and socio-economic viability of a congestion pricing demonstration entering Madrid city centre, where road users have to choose between a free but highly congested road and a priced free-flowing road (semi-private regime). A logit estimation is undertaken with information from a questionnaire among road users in the Eastern Madrid…
Asymmetric Demand Information and Foreign Direct Investment
We examine the FDI versus exports decision of firms competing in an oligopolistic (quantitysetting) market under demand uncertainty and asymmetric information. Compared to a firm that chooses to export, a firm that chooses to set up a plant in the host market has superior information about local market demand. In addition to the well-known tension between the fixed set-up costs of investment, the additional variable costs of exports and oligopoly sizes, the incentive to invest abroad is explained by the strategic learning effect. FDI may be observed even if trade costs are zero. The analysis is robust to price competition and to the possibility that a foreign firm can engage in both FDI and…
The tradeoffs between retail service and exclusivity in distribution: Welfare and policy implications
Abstract This paper examines the welfare tradeoffs between retail service and exclusivity in distribution in a successive duopoly with differentiated retailers. A simple two-stage game is developed to model quantity and retail service competition under two situations, one where retailers operate under exclusivity and one where retailers can sell both products. It is shown that welfare is higher under exclusivity in distribution when the transfer price without exclusivity exceeds that under exclusivity and intra-product and in-store competition are intense. Our findings call for a detailed analysis of the antitrust treatment of exclusive dealing when interrelated with the provision of retail…
Brand price differentials in retail distribution: product quality and service quality
ABSTRACTA theoretical model is proposed to disentangle the contribution of brand quality and retailer service quality in explaining brand price differentials across retailers. Two testable hypotheses emerge: (i) for each brand type, price differences across retailers are independent of brand quality differentials and (ii) at a given retailer, price differences between different brand qualities are independent of service quality differentials. Our empirical analysis, for a sample of the U.K. grocery retailer prices, discloses that retailers that offer higher service quality sell same quality brands at higher prices. In particular, service quality premia amount to 6% for national brands and a…
A three-stage competition game in an air transport network under asymmetric valuation of flight frequencies
Abstract This paper analyzes the effects of changes in aeronautical charges as brought by several airport management regimes on the air transport industry. Airlines compete on both price and non-prices variables, where connecting passengers have asymmetric valuations of flight frequencies in different legs. Changes in landing fees trigger airlines reactions on flight frequencies and airfares, whose sign depends on the weight attached to flight frequencies. Thus, an increase in the spoke landing fee leads to more international flights under low valuations of frequencies at spoke airports. Simulation exercises show that profit-maximizing aeronautical charges only at the spoke airport are pref…
Cost uncertainty and trade liberalization in international oligopoly
Abstract Trade liberalization has been shown to be unfavourable for firms of at least one country for the homogeneous goods case in an environment of certainty. We show that, in the presence of private cost information and for ex ante identical firms, oligopolistic firms will prefer to operate under free trade rather than under autarky in homogeneous goods industries provided there exists a certain degree of firms' heterogeneity and a sufficiently large amount of uncertainty. For the particular case of symmetry both in demand and industry sizes, the firms of at least one country prefer to operate under autarky rather than under free trade.
INTERNATIONALIZATION STRATEGIES IN OLIGOPOLY WITH HETEROGENEOUS FIRMS
This paper examines the foreign direct investment (FDI) versus exports decision of foreign oligopolistic firms under cost heterogeneity. An additional motivation for firms to invest abroad is the technological sourcing via spillovers, which flow from the host more efficient firm to foreign less advantaged firms. For intermediate values of the set-up costs associated with FDI entry, it is shown that foreign firms choose opposite entry strategies. An equilibrium where the less efficient foreign firm exports whereas the more efficient invests is more likely to happen when foreign firms become more heterogeneous, the larger the trade costs and not too big oligopolistic profitability. Interestin…
R&D Competition, Cooperation, and Microeconomic Policies
This chapter aims to contribute to the better understanding of R&D by scholars and practitioners. It includes a first section where the concept of innovation is defined and its public good nature and cumulative dimension are analysed. Next, the incentives that firms have to undertake R&D to attain a competitive edge upon rivals are considered. This entails the consideration of both ex ante and ex post incentives to undertake R&D. Since innovation is costly and derives important external effects, cooperation in R&D activities is prominent in several industries where firms enter into research joint ventures, or form research networks. The effect of cooperation is that, under s…
MIXED OLIGOPOLY, PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION AND COMPETITION FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORT SERVICES*
This paper explores frequency and pricing decisions in a horizontally and vertically differentiated duopoly when there is competition between means of transport and where one of the firms need not necessarily maximize profits. The private and the mixed duopoly are compared and distortions from the social optimum are identified, both analytically and numerically. A mixed duopoly does not recover the socially optimal solution. However, the presence of a (public) non-profit maximizing operator is a useful measure to get closer to the social optimum. When both operators are (private) profit maximizers, some control measures such as price caps and minimum service availability would reduce the di…
Pricing and infrastructure fees in shaping cooperation in a model of high-speed rail and airline competition
Abstract This paper studies the effects of cooperation in a hub-and-spoke network with high-speed rail and airline competition. The distinctive elements of our analysis are the consideration of: (i) per-passenger airport and rail infrastructure fees; (ii) mixed bundling pricing by partners, and (iii) an airline duopoly in the international market. We show that partners fix the cheapest bundle price of the combined trip, that non-allied operators respond by decreasing the prices per link, and that connecting traffic increases. Per-passenger fees significantly affect the price differences following cooperation. An empirical application confirms that it is privately profitable and that welfare…
The impact on port competition of the integration of port and inland transport services
The performance of the transport chain is important for the efficiency and competitiveness of an economy. In the context of port competition, there has been an increasing cooperation between firms involved in the intermodal transport chain including seaport services. This paper examines the economic incentives and welfare implications to the integration of port activities with inland transport services under inter-ports competition. Although ports find it advantageous to engage in such integration process it may be detrimental to welfare, since shippers’ aggregate surplus decreases – noting that farther away users benefit at the expense of those closer to the ports. Several scenarios not le…
Licensing policies for a new product
This paper studies licensing policies for the owner of a new product and addresses their welfare impact in the assessment of market failures. We show that the best licensing policy for the patent holder is fixed fee licensing with an exclusive territory clause. Consumers are also better off with fixed fees but do not prefer the exclusive territory clause. Social welfare is higher under exclusive territories when fixed costs are not too large. As for efficiency, the number of licences in the private market equilibrium falls short of the socially optimal solution. Our analysis discloses that (i) any policy measures aimed at enhancing the diffusion of technology, in terms of the number of lice…
A model of internal and external competition in a High Speed Rail line
This paper is a contribution to evaluate structural and behavioral changes in railway passenger markets. The novel elements of our analysis are the following: (i) the consideration of inter-modal and intra-modal competition, (ii) the presence of public and private operators, and (iii) endogenous service frequency. After calibrating the model using actual data from two Spanish High Speed Rail lines, simulation exercises allow us to conclude the following. Privatization, whether entry occurs or not, would prompt an increase in prices and a reduction in the number of train services, eventually leading to welfare decreases, as compared with a regime where the incumbent rail operator remained pu…
Competition and horizontal integration in maritime freight transport
This paper develops a theoretical model for freight transport characterized by competition between means of transport (the road and maritime sectors), where modes are perceived as differentiated products. Competitive behavior is assumed in the road freight sector, and there are constant returns to scale. In contrast, the freight maritime sector is characterized by oligopolistic behavior, where shipping lines enjoy economies of scale. The market equilibrium where the shipping lines behave as profit maximizers, provides a first approximation to the determinants of market shares, profits, and user welfare. We then characterize the equilibrium when horizontal integration of shipping lines occur…
Vertical integration and exclusivities in maritime freight transport
A key recent theme in maritime freight transport is the involvement of shipping lines in terminal management. Such investments are costly but allow liners to provide better service. Most of these new terminals are dedicated terminals but some are non-exclusive and let rivals access them for a fee. In this paper, we show that a shipping line that builds its own terminal finds it strategically profitable (i) to continue routing part of its cargo through the open port facilities, and (ii) to keep its terminal non-exclusive. In this way, the liner investor pushes part of the rival's freight from the open to the new terminal. Besides, under non-exclusivities, the shipping lines offer a wider var…
The effect of cooperative infrastructure fees on high-speed rail and airline competition
Abstract This paper explores the effects of cooperation between rail and air infrastructures in setting per-passenger fees prior to competition among airlines and high-speed rail (HSR) in a transport network. It is shown that, for a sufficiently low degree of substitution, cooperation results in lower fees and greater HSR traffic than under competition. Besides, it leads to more connecting passengers. An empirical application allows for a quantitative assessment of cooperation. Gains to passengers and operators are sizeable when cooperation either involves all infrastructure managers or the rail and the hub airport managers. Welfare gains are in the range of 10.4–11.1%. Our contribution off…
Product Line Choice in Retail Duopoly
This paper develops a successive duopoly model to identify conditions under which differentiated retailers that compete in quantities, when deciding on the range of brands to offer, will carry overlapping product lines. They will do so when retail margins on each brand are not too asymmetric. Otherwise, the less profitable brand is foreclosed from the market. It is shown that welfare increases if the upstream industry is perfectly competitive, even though fewer brands may be sold. With price competition though, exclusive dealing arises when retailers are not too differentiated and in-store competition is sufficiently intense.
To lead or to wait? An application to internationalization strategies under demand uncertainty
We examine the exports versus foreign direct investment (FDI) decision under demand uncertainty for an asymmetric cost duopoly. One of the firms can lead entry before demand realization or retain flexibility enjoying an informational advantage. When the time value of information is small and for sufficiently low investment costs, follow‐the‐leader behavior in FDI arises. Relatively high investment (fixed) costs result in follow‐the‐leader exporting behavior. When the time value of information becomes significant, the potential leader will opt for a wait‐and‐see strategy. For intermediate values of investment costs, the efficient firm invests, while the rival chooses to export.