In this paper we develop a model of Bertrand price competition with uncertainty as to the number of bidders. The auction models predict retail price dispersion as an observable feature of price discrimination. The implications of the auction models are tested using a logit model on primary data. Some simulations of the logit model further enrich and capture critical states of chain-store rivalr...

In this study we investigate the impact of competition on markets for non-durable goods where intertemporal price discrimination is possible. We develop a simple model of different potential scenarios for intertemporal price discrimination and implement it in a laboratory experiment. We compare the outcomes in monopolies and duopolies. Surprisingly, we find that competition does not necessarily...

An empirical regularity in the price-promotion behavior of retailers of homogenous goods is explained theoretically. Based on this, a model is proposed for price competition in a market for a homogenous good with many asymmetrically positioned retailers. Asymmetry in this context refers to firms having potentially dissimilar loyal and switcher customer numbers that shape their pricing behavior ...

This paper proposes a model in which identical sellers of a homogenous product compete in both prices and price frames (i.e., ways to present price information). We model price framing by assuming that firms’ frame choices affect the comparability of their price offers: consumers may fail to compare prices due to frame differentiation, and due to frame complexity. In the symmetric equilibrium t...

We introduce a simple model of oligopolistic competition where firms first build capacity, and then, after observing the capacity decisions, choose a reservation price at which they are willing to supply their capacities. This model describes many markets more realistically than Kreps and Scheinkman’s (1983) model. We show that in this new model every pure strategy equilibrium yields the Courno...

In this paper, we present a combined study of price competition and traffic control in a congested network. We study a model in which service providers own the routes in a network and set prices to maximize their profits, while users choose the amount of flow to send and the routing of the flow according to Wardrop’s principle. When utility functions of users are concave and have concave first ...

The theory of two-sided matching markets has interested researchers for its theoretical appeal and relevance to real-life applications. The matching of medical residents and hospitals in the United States has been studied extensively by Alvin E. Roth (1984) and others. The National Resident Matching Program (NRMP), the matching authority in the US hospital-resident matching market, runs a centr...

This paper sheds light on an empirical controversy about the effect of competition on price discrimination. We propose a model in which consumers learn their preferences over time and show that firms offer advance purchase discounts. Consumers choose between an early (uninformed) purchase at a low price and a late (informed) purchase at a high price. Competing firms offer higher discounts to se...

We investigate the strategic incentives for partial vertical integration, namely, partial ownership agreements between manufacturers and retailers, when the retailers privately know their costs and engage in differentiated good price competition. The partial misalignment between the profit objectives within a partially integrated manufacturer-retailer hierarchy entails a higher retail price tha...