Price Caps as Welfare-Enhancing Coopetition

S-Tier
Journal: Journal of Political Economy
Year: 2019
Volume: 127
Issue: 6
Pages: 3018 - 3069

Score contribution per author:

4.022 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

The paper analyzes the impact of price caps agreed upon by industry participants. Price caps, like mergers, allow firms to solve Cournot’s multiple-marginalization problem, but unlike mergers, they do not stifle price competition in case of substitutes or facilitate foreclosure in case of complements. The paper first demonstrates this for nonrepeated interaction and general demand and cost functions. It then shows that allowing price caps has no impact on investment and entry in case of substitutes. Under more restrictive assumptions, the paper finally generalizes the insights to repeated price interaction, analyzing coordinated effects when goods are not necessarily substitutes.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:ucp:jpolec:doi:10.1086/702014
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-29